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THE    MOSAIC    ERA. 


Edward  O.  Jenkins,  Printer  and  Stereotyper, 
20  North  William  St.,  N.  Y. 


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PREFACE. 


THESE  studies  of  the  sacred  records  of  the  Mosaic 
era  are  on  the  same  plan  as  a  series  formerly  issued 
by  the  author  on  "  The  Ages  before  Moses."  As  ex- 
plained in  the  preface  to  the  former  volume,  that  plan 
was  "the  result  of  an  attempt  to  combine  the  advan- 
tages of  the  expository  and  topical  methods,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  secure  the  benefit  of  continuoiis  exposition, 
without  wearying  and  discouraging  those  who  have  not 
time  to  dwell  on  details."  The  attempt  has  also  been 
made  to  exhibit  the  perspective  of  the  history  ;  so  that 
not  the  mere  number  of  the  chapters  or  verses,  but  the 
relative  importance  of  the  matter,  should  determine  the 
space  given  to  the  exposition,  regard  also  being  had  to 
the  element  of  time.  This  will  account  for  the  rapid 
manner  in  which  some  parts  of  the  sacred  text  are 
passed  over,  compared  with  the  attention  given  to  oth- 
ers. Care  has  been  taken  to  avoid  the  temptation  of 
merely  selecting  topics  for  illustration  ;  the  constant  aim 
has  been  to  present  in  outline,  and  in  their  organic  rela- 
tions, the  salient  features  of  the  entire  series  of  Scrip- 
tures which  gives  us  the  history  of  the  times  of  Moses. 


vi  Preface. 

The  critical  questions  affecting  the  date,  authorship, 
and  integrity  of  the  books,  which  are  so  much  agitated 
at  the  present  time,  do  not  come  within  the  scope  of 
this  volume.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that,  though  no 
attempt  is  made  to  deal  directly  with  a  subject  which  de- 
mands separate  and  special  treatment,  these  expositions, 
by  calling  attention  to  the  coherence,  compactness,  and 
close  organic  relations  of  the  different  books,  and  to  the 
manifest  unity  of  the  whole,  may  tend  in  some  degree 
to  aid  in  the  solution  of  the  questions  suggested  by  "  the 
higher  criticism." 

The  author  has  a  profound  conviction,  which  the 
studies  resulting  in  this  volume  have  greatly  confirmed, 
that  the  value  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  for 
spiritual  edification  is  greater  than  is  generally  supposed 
even  by  Christian  people.  The  prejudice  against  what  is 
called  '*  spiritualizing"  is  carried  by  many  so  far,  that 
*' the  spirit "  is  lost  altogether,  and  only '^  the  letter" 
remains.  The  rejecting  of  the  spiritual  significance  of 
the  Hebrew  records  is  only  what  is  to  be  expected  on 
the  part  of  those  who  deny  the  spiritual  altogether ;  but 
it  does  seem  unaccountable  that  so  many  who  ac- 
knowledge the  paramount  authority  in  things  spiritual 
of  Christ  and  His  apostles,  should  nevertheless  disregard 
such  plain  statements  as  these  :  "  All  these  things  hap- 
pened unto  them  for  ensamples  :  and  they  are  written 
for  our  admonition  "  ;  "  Whatsoever  things  were  written 
aforetime,  were  written  for  our  learning,  that  we  through 
patience   and    comfort   of    the    Scriptures    might    have 


Preface.  vii 

hope  " ;  and  so  completely  forget  the  emphatic  warning 
given  in  reference  to  this  very  subject,  "  the  letter  kill- 
eth,  but  the  Spirit  giveth  life." 

With  regard  to  the  acknowledged  danger  of  license  in 
the  doctrine  of  types,  it  is  important  to  remember  that 
it  is  the  prevailing  ignorance  on  the  subject  which  gives 
it  scope.  The  true  way  to  meet  the  extravagance  of 
fanciful  interpretation,  is  not  to  abandon  the  field  to  it 
by  avoiding  the  subject,  but  diligently  to  cultivate  it  in 
the  interests  of  truth  and  reason.  On  the  same  principle 
many  of  the  vagaries  of  modern  ritualism  are  traceable 
to  the  want  of  education  on  the  subject  of  the  rites  of 
the  ancient  Church  and  the  light  thrown  upon  them  in 
the  New  Testament.  "  We  venture  to  assert,"  says 
Cave,  and  we  believe  truly,  ''  that  it  is  because  so  little 
has  been  heard  of  late  in  Protestant  pulpits  of  the  Chris- 
tian doctrines  of  priesthood  and  sacrifice,  that  the  Rom- 
ish exaggerations  of  those  truths  have  found  a  house 
ready  swept  and  garnished  for  their  reception."" 

The  numerous  testimonies  to  the  usefulness  of  the 
previous  volume  which  have  reached  the  author,  have 
encouraged  him  to  hope  that  its  successor  will  not  be  en- 
tirely unwelcome,  and  that  with  all  its  imperfections  it 
may  be  of  some  service  to  students  of  the  Bible. 

St.  John's  Wood, 

London,  April,  1881. 


*  "The  Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice,"  p.  25. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  Israel  in  Egypt  :  Exodus  i. 

Place  of  Mosaic  Era  in  Sacred  History. — Threefold  Interest  of  the 
Subject.— The  Historical  Interest.— The  Bible  and  the  Monu- 
ments.— The  Pharaoh  of  the  Oppression  and  the  Pharaoh  of 
the  Exodus. — The  Evangelical  Interest. — A  Stage  in  the  De- 
velopment of  the  Great  Redemption. — The  "  Son  "  of  the 
National  Era. — The  Personal  Interest. — Educational  Value  of 
the  Stay  in  Egypt. — How  the  School  became  a  Prison. — Whence 
the  Necessity  of  an  Exodus,     pp.  1-15. 

IT.  The  Way  Out  :  Exodus  ii.-iv. 

There  seemed  no  Way. — God's  Way. — A  Deliverer  Prepared  for  the 
People. — Moses'  Birth  and  Education. — His  Call  and  Commis- 
sion.— His  Credentials  and  Qualifications. — The  People  Pre- 
pared for  Deliverance. — All  Things  Ready,     pp.  16-30. 

III.  Pharaoh  Subdued  :  Exodus  v.-xi.,  xiv. 

The  Exodus  Proper. — Comparison  with  the  Genesis. — Objects  to  be 
Accomplished. — Spiritual  Significance  of  the  Long  Conflict. — 
The  Simple  Demand. — The  Demand  with  Simple  Sign. — The 
Demand  with  Plague  Signs. — The  Plagues. — Attempts  at  Com- 
promise. —  The  Hardening  of  Pharaoh's  Heart.  —  The  End. 
pp.  31-46. 

IV.  Israel  Saved  :  Exodus  xii.-xiv. 

The  Subduing  of  Pharaoh  Not  Enough. — The  Way  of  Salvation  for 
Israel. —  Atonement. —  Redemption. —  By  Paschal   Sacrifice. — 

(ix) 


X  Contents. 

"  Christ  our  Passover." — The  New  Life. — "  The  Hosts  of  the 
Lord." — The  Pillar  of  Cloud  and  Fire. — The  Red  Sea. — The 
Seven  Stages  of  Israel's  Salvation,     pp.  47-60. 

V.  The  Wilderness  :  Exodus  xv.-xviii. 

The  Red  Sea  Song. — Marah. — Elim. — Manna  in  the  Wilderness. — 
Water  from  the  Rock. — The  Contest  with  Amalek. — The  Meet- 
ing with  Jethro.     pp.  61-76. 

VI.  The  Sinai  Revelation  :  Exodus  xix.,  xx. 

The  Preliminary  Sketch. — The  Full  Revelation. — The  Holy  One. — 
Relations  of  Holiness  and  Love. — Mount  Sinai,  the  Fountain- 
Head  of  Reverence. — The  Decalogue. — The  Law  and  the 
Altar. — Sinai  and  Pentecost,     pp.  77-89. 

Vn.  The  Sinai  Covenant  :  Exodus  xx.  22-xxiv. 

"  The  Sinai  Revelation  "  and  "  The  Sinai  Covenant." — "  The  Book 
of  the  Covenant." — Its  Four  Divisions. — Act  of  Inauguration. 
— The  Altar  and  Pillars. — The  Ceremonial  and  its  Significance. 
— Immediate  Results  of  the  Transaction. — The  Three  Stages 
of  Privilege,     pp.  90-103. 

VIII.  The  Tabernacle  Revelation  : 

Exodus  xxv.-xxxi. 

The  Complement  of  the  Law. — Includes  it. — Preserves  and  Perpet- 
uates it. — Substance  of  the  Tabernacle  Revelation. — Its  Sym- 
bolic Language. — Two  Sides  of  Truth  Expressed  in  it. — Order 
6f  the  Revelation. — Its  Three  Leading  Thoughts. — The  Sab- 
bath as  a  Sign.     pp.  104-117. 

IX.  Lapse  and  Restoration  : 

Exodus  xxxii.-xxxix. 

The  Apostasy:  its  Nature. — Aaron's  Part  in  it.— Conduct  of  Moses. 
— Judgment. — The  Mediator. — Intercession  :  its  Three  Stages. 
— The  Tent  of  Meeting. — Results  of  Mediation  :  the  Name,  the 
Tables,  the  Tabernacle. — Transfiguration  of  Moses. — Reforma- 
tion of  People. — Divine  Grace  Magnified,     pp.  118-131. 


Contents.  xi 

X.  The  Tabernacle  :  Exodus  xl.-Leviticus  i.  i. 

Importance  of  the  Tabernacle. — Prevailing  Neglect  of  it. — Symbols 
and  Types. — The  Typical  Founded  on  the  Symbolic. — General 
Sketch  of  Tabernacle. — The  Tabernacle  Proper. — The  Apart- 
ments and  their  Furniture. — The  Court. — The  Cloud  and  the 
Glory. — The  New  Testament  Tabernacle. — End  of  Exodus 
Compared  with  Close  of  Genesis,     pp.  132-145. 

XI.  Ritual  of  the  Altar  :  Leviticus  i.-vii. 

Historical  Importance  of  Leviticus.  —  Its  Practical  Value.  —  Its 
Roughness  Without  and  Beauty  Within. — Order  from  Court 
without  to  inner  Shrine. — Ritual  of  Court :  that  of  Altar. — 
Foundation  of  Worship. — The  People's  Place  of  Meeting. — 
The  Place  of  Sacrifice,     pp.  146-152. 

(I.)  General  Features  of  Sacrifice. 
Presentation   of  Animal. — The    Killing   of  it. — Disposition   of  the 
Blood. — The  Burning  on  the  Altar,     pp.  152-157. 

(II.)  Special  Features  of  the  Different  Sacrifices. 
The  Historical  Order. — The  Logical  Order. — The  Sin  Offering. — 
The  Trespass  Offering.— The  Burnt  Offering.— The  Meat  Offer- 
ing.— The  Peace  Offering. — System   of   Saving   Truth   in   the 
Offerings,     pp.  157-170. 

(III.)  How  Christ  Fulfilled  the  Ritual  of  the  Altar. 
His   Advent. — His   Life. — His  Parting  Words. — His   Death. — His 
Burial. — Transition   to   Ritual   of  Holy   Place. — Fulfilment  of 
Offerings  Required  of  Us.     pp.  170-177. 

XII.  Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place  : 

Leviticus  viii  -x. 

The  Place  of  Worship  for  the  Priests.  —  Their  Representative 
Character. — Order  of  the  Consecration  Services. — (I.)  Separa- 
tion of  Aaron  a  fid  His  Sons. — (II.)  Their  Investiture. — The 
Ephod  and  Girdle. — The  Breastplate. — Urim  and  Thummim. — 
Robe  of  the  Ephod. —The  Mitre.— Our  Great  High-Priest.— 
Garments  of  the  Priests. — Abuse  of  Vestments. — (III.)  The 
Afwinting.—W.'s,   Significance.—  Order  of  the  Ceremony.— (IV.) 


xii  Contents. 

The  Sacrifices. — The  First  Day. — The  Waiting. — The  Eighth 
Day. —  The  Holy  Place  Opened.—L\i^,  Light,  and  Love. — The 
Veil  and  the  Throne. — Nadab  and  Abihu.     pp.  178-199. 

XIIL  Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place  : 

Leviticus  xi.-xxii. 

Entered  only  on  the  Great  Atonement  Day. — Preparatory  Impres- 
sions.— Evil  Around :  Clean  and  Unclean. — Sin  Within,  as 
Hereditary  Taint,  as  Disease,  as  Defilement. — Health  Laws  of 
Moses. — Conception  of  Purity. — Ritual  of  the  Great  Atone- 
ment Day. — Its  Fulfilment  by  Christ. — Close  Connection  be- 
tween Atonement  and  Obedience,     pp.  200-220. 

XIV.  Sacred  Times  :   Leviticus  xxiii.-xxvii. 

The  Number  Seven. — The  Seven  Days. — The  Sabbath, — The  Seven 
Weeks. — Passover. — Pentecost. — The  Seven  Months. — Trum- 
pets.— Tabernacles. — The  Sacred  Year. — The  Seven  Years. — 
The  Sabbatical  Year. — The  Seven  Weeks  of  Years. — The 
Jubilee. — The  Sabbatic  Series. — The  Eighth  Day  Series. — 
Promises  and  Threatenings. — "  Singular  "  Vows.     pp.  221-244. 

XV.  The  Camp  :  Numbers  i.-vi. 

The  "  Middle  Books." — Relations  to  Genesis  and  Deuteronomy. — 
Mutual  Relations  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers. — Idea  of 
the  Book  of  Numbers. — The  Land  and  the  Earth. — Is  Canaan 
a  Type  of  Heaven? — Pedigrees  and  Standards. — Priestly  and 
Levitical  Arrangements. — Order  of  the  Camp. — Care  to  keep 
it  Pure. — Special  Consecration  of  the  Nazarite. — The  Priestly 
Benediction. — Trinity  and  Unity,     pp.  245-257. 

XVL — The  March  :  Numbers  vii.-xiv. 

Preparations. — Offerings  :  of  the  Princes  ;  of  the  People. —  Obser- 
vance of  Passover. — Signals  for  Starting. —  The  March. — Order. 
— Watchwords. — Hobab. — Taberah. — The  Graves  of  Lust. — 
Sedition  of  Miriam. — The  Great  Apostasy. — The  Sin  and  Doom 
of  Unbelief     pp.  258-268. 


Contents.  xiii 

XVII.  The  Forty  Years  :  Numbers  xv.-xix. 

Historic  Gap  in  Numbers. — Significant  Silence. — God's  Faithfulness 
and  Man's  Failure. — Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram.— Divine 
Right  of  the  Priesthood.  —  Ordinance  of  the  Red  Heifer, 
pp.  269-280. 


XVIII.  The  New  Departure  :  Numbers  xx..  xxi. 

Re-assembling  at  Kadesh. — Apparently  Hopeless  Beginning. — Its 
Real  Hopefulness. — Defeat  Retrieved. — The  Brazen  Serpent.— 
The  Well  and  the  Song. — The  Sin  of  Moses  and  Aaron. — The 
Death  of  Aaron,     pp.  281-289. 


XIX.  Balaam  :  Numbers  xxii.-xxv. 

Moab  and  Midian. — The  Prophet  of  Pethor. — "  The  Way  of  Balaam." 
—The  Entrance.—The  Way  itself.— The  End.— The  Words  of 
Balaam.  —  The  Threefold  Blessing.  —  Comparison  with  the 
Priestly  Benediction  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Apostolic 
Benediction  of  the  New.     pp.  290-298. 


XX.  The  Star  and  Sceptre  Prophecy  : 

Numbers  xxiv.  15-24. 

Prophecy  of  a  Coming  King. — Comparison  with  Shiloh  Prophecy. — 
Destruction  of  Enemies. — The  Sword  and  the  Word. — Scope 
of  the  Prophecy. — The  Course  of  its  Fulfilment,    pp.  299-308. 

XXI.  The  Second  Muster  : 

Numbers  xxvi.-Deuteronomy  i.  i. 

Last  Duties  and  Last  Words.  —  The  Second  Census.  —  Moses' 
Successor  Appointed.  —  Ritual  Reminders.  —  War  against 
Midian.  —  The  Itinerary.  —  Distribution  of  Land.  —  Levitical 
Cities  and  Cities  of  Refuge. — Close  of  Numbers  and  Transi- 
tion to  Deuteronomy,     pp.  309-314. 


xiv  Contents. 

XXII.  The  Second  Law  :  Deuteronomy  i.-xxx. 

The  Three  Parting  Addresses. — Difference  in  Style. — Critical  Ques- 
tions.— The  First  Address. — Its  Historical  Basis. — The  Second 
Address.  —  The  Deuteronomy  Proper.  —  Its  Legal  Basis  and 
Prophetic  Outlook. — The  Third  Address. — Its  Covenant  Basis 
and  Prophetic  Outlook. — Solemn  Warnings,     pp.  315-325. 

XXIII.  The  Dying  Song  of  Moses  : 

Deuteronomy  xxxi.,  xxxii. 

Death  of  Moses  Announced. — Commissioned  to  Write  a  Song  of 
Instruction. — Substance  of  the  Song.— Fulfilment  of  its  Pro- 
phetical Portions. — ^Judgment  and  Mercy. — Calling  of  the  G'en- 
tiles.  The  Roman  and  the  Teuton. — The  English-speaking 
Peoples. — A  Song  for  the  Times,     pp.  326-337. 

XXIV.  Last  Words  :   The  End  : 

Deuteronomy  xxxiii.,  xxxiv. 

Appendix  to  Pentateuch.— The  Parting  Blessing.—The  Mosaic 
Theology.  —  Its  Comprehensiveness.  —  Its  Crown  of  Love.  — 
Sinai  and  Calvary. — Moriah  and  Pisgah.— Israel's  God  and 
God's  Israel.— Echoes  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers. — 
The  "  Heritage  for  ever  "  from  the  Mosaic  Era.     pp.  338-345. 

Appendix  on  "  Jehovah,"  ''  Israel,"  and  "  Christ." 

I.  The  Name  "  Jehovah  " pp.  349-352 

II.  The  Name  "Israel" 353-354 

III.  The  Title  "Christ" 355-359 


e 


I. 

ISRAEL  IN    EGYPT. 
EXODUS   I. 

WE  have  before  us  a  study  in  sacred  history :  the 
times  of  Moses  the  great  Law-giver  of  Israel. 
It  may  be  well  first  to  consider  the  relation  of  this  period 
to  the  whole  of  which  it  is  a  part. 

If  we  understand  sacred  history  in  the  largest  sense, 
then  the  ages  of  creation  which  are  manifestly  referred 
to  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (i.  2 ;  xi.  3),"  may  be 
considered  as  belonging  to  it ;  and  throughout  these  vast 
reaches  of  time  which  preceded  the  advent  of  man  upon 
the  earth,  we  recognise  the  working  of  the  Eternal  Wordf , 
who  in  the  end  of  a  later  age  (Hebrew  ix.  26),  "  appeared, 
to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself."  But  taking 
a  more  limited  and  familiar  view  of  sacred  history,  we 
may  consider  it  as  including  those  successive  ages  or  dis- 
pensations of  Divine  mercy  and  grace,  which  the  fall  of 
man  rendered  necessary,  for  the  purpose  of  rescuing  him 
from  sin,  delivering  him  from  the  sorrow  it  entailed,  and 
preparing  him  for  the  lofty  destiny  which,  according  to 
the  constitution  of  his  nature,  and  the  loving  purpose  of 
the  God  who  made  him,  is  in  store  for  him. 


*  The  word  is  aliovag,  not  worids,  as  in  our  version,  but  ag'^s. 
t  See  also  John  i.  3  ;  Col.  i.  16. 


2  The  Mosaic  Era. 

The  first  age,  or  dispensation,  begins  with  the  prom- 
ise given  to  Adam  and  Eve  immediately  after  the  fall ; 
and  closes  with  the  judgment  of  the  flood.  The  second 
begins  with  the  promise  given  to  Noah,  as  he  stood  with 
his  rescued  family  around  an  altar  reared  upon  the  land 
from  which  the  waters  of  the  flood  had  just  receded ;  and 
closes  with  the  judgment  of  the  Babel  dispersion.  The 
third  age  begins  with  the  call  of  Abraham,  and  is  going 
on  still.  It  differs  from  the  previous  ages  or  dispensations 
by  the  introduction  of  the  new  principle  of  separation,"-  as 
distinguished  from  the  general  offer  of  mercy  which  had 
been  previously  made  once  and  again  to  all  mankind. 
Its  characteristic  call  is  :  "  Come  ye  out  and  be  separate." 
That  call  was  first  addressed  to  Abraham  as  the  head  of 
a  family :  "  Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy 
kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house  "  (Gen.  xii.  i).  It 
was  afterwards  addressed  to  the  nation  of  Israel,  when 
God  "  called  His  Son  out  of  Egypt  "  (Exod.  iv.  22,  and 
Hosea  xi.  i).  In  its  final  form  it  is  addressed  to  men  of 
all  nations  and  climes,  and  this  is  the  tenor  of  it :  "  Come 
ye  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the 
Lord  ;  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  re- 
ceive you,  and  will  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  My  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty." 

Thus  we  have  successively,  within  the  third  age,  three 
divisions,  covering  respectively  the  era  of  the  separate 
family  (patriarchal  times) ;  of  the  separate  nation  (the 
times  of  Israel) ;  and  of  the  separate  church  (the  "times 


*  Sec  a  previous  work  by  the  same  author,  entitled  "  The  Ages 
before  Moses,"  p.  159. 


Israel  in  Egypt.  3 

of  the  Gentiles  ").  The  period  before  us  evidently  falls 
in  the  second  of  these  divisions,  that  of  the  separate  na- 
tion ;  and  it  covers  the  era  of  the  founding  of  the  nation. 
The  time  occupied  is  short,  being  all  embraced,  or  nearly 
all,  in  the  lifetime  of  a  single  man,  that  of  Moses,  who 
was,  under  God,  the  founder  of  the  separate  nation. 
But  though  the  time  is  brief,  the  records  are  extensive, 
corresponding  to  the  great  importance  of  the  period. 
Four  books  of  the  Bible  are  devoted  to  it :  the  Books  of 
Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and  Deuteronomy.  These 
will  be  our  text-books  in  the  study  of  the  period. 

Our  subject  has,  or  ought  to  have,  a  threefold  interest : 
Historical,  Evangelical,  Personal. 

First,  the  Historical  Interest.  No  one  can  now  deny 
that  these  books  of  Moses  contain  veritable  history.  In 
former  times  of  ignorance  a  sceptic  might  take  the  posi- 
tion that  the  whole  story  was  the  invention  of  a  later 
age.  But  no  man  of  any  intelligence  can  take  this  posi- 
tion now.  The  very  stones,  the  mighty  stones  of  Egypt, 
cry  out  against  it.  There  is  scarcely  a  sentence  in  the 
books  of  Moses  about  Egypt  that  does  not  find  confir- 
mation and  illustration  from  the  monuments  of  Egypt 
and  the  partially  preserved  papyrus  rolls.  So  minute  is 
the  accuracy,  that  not  only  is  the  history  proved  to  be 
authentic,  but  to  be  contemporaneous  with  the  events  it 
records.*  The  two  histories — of  Israel  in  the  Bible — of 
Egypt  as  recovered  from  the  monuments — lie  alongside 
of  each  other,  like  two  adjoining  countries  in  a  dissected 


*  See  R.  Stuart  Poole,  in  Contemporary  Review,  March,  1879,  p. 
758. 


4  The  Mosaic  Era. 

map,  which  fit  exactly  the  one  into  the  other,  clearly- 
proving  that  they  are  fashioned  out  of  one  piece.  And 
not  only  do  the  Bible  and  the  monuments  fit  into  each 
other  with  such  wonderful  exactness,  but  there  are  cases 
in  which  we  can  see  in  the  one  so  manifestly  the  com- 
plement of  the  other,  that  it  is  just  as  if,  on  the  dissected 
map  which  we  have  used  for  illustration,  some  name 
were  written  across  the  intersection,  with  the  beginning 
of  it  on  the  Israel  side,  and  the  rest  on  the  Egypt  side, 
or  vice  versa. 

Most  conspicuously  is  this  the  case  in  the  Bible  ac- 
count of  Israel  in  Egypt  in  the  time  of  the  oppression, 
as  compared  with  the  abundant  records  of  the  reign  of 
Rameses  II.,  the  great  Sesostris  of  the  Greek  historians ; 
so  much  so  that  the  best  of  modern  Egyptologists  no 
longer  express  any  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  this  well- 
known  monarch  with  the  Pharaoh  of  Israel's  oppression. 
The  very  name  Pharaoh,  which  at  first  created  a  diffi- 
culty, is  now  a  confirmation  ;  for  while  it  has  been  proved 
to  be  a  general  term  applied  to  all  the  monarchs  of  the 
Pharaonic  dynasties,  it  was  just  in  the  reign  of  this  mon- 
arch and  his  successor  that  it  became  so  universal  as  to 
pass  into  a  proper  name.  It  is  used  on  the  monuments 
exactly  as  it  is  used  in  the  Hebrew  text.  The  same 
Pharaoh  is  known  to  be  a  mighty  conqueror,  the  greatest 
of  all  the  kings  of  Egypt,  who  exacted  forced  labor 
from  his  slaves  on  a  vaster  scale  than  ever  had  been 
done  before.  It  is  proved  also  from  the  monuments 
that,  though  belonging  to  a  race  of  Theban  kings,  he 
fixed  his  capital,  not  at  Thebes  in  the  far  south,  but  at 
Zoan  or  Tanis  in  the  far  north,  in  the  very  region  where 


Israel  in  Egypt.  5 

the  children  of  Israel  had  their  centre  of  population,  and 
at  the  very  place  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  Psalms  as 
the  scene  of  the  marvels  which  were  wrought  at  the 
time  of  the  Exodus  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  12,  43).  And  then,  to 
crown  all,  the  very  treasure  cities  which  are  mentioned 
in  this  first  chapter  of  Exodus,  Pithom  and  Raamses, 
have  been  discovered  and  identified  as  the  work  of  this 
same  Pharaoh.  So  conclusive  have  these  and  other 
correspondences  appeared,  that  we  find  so  distinguished 
an  authority  as  Brugsch-Bey  saying :  "  The  new  Pha- 
raoh who  knew  not  Joseph,  who  adorned  the  city  of 
Ramses,  the  capital  of  the  Tanitic  nome,  and  the  city  of 
Pithom,  the  capital  of  what  was  afterwards  the  Seth- 
roitic  nome,  with  temple  cities,  is  no  other,  can  be  no 
othcr^  than  Rameses  II.,  of  whose  buildings  at  Zoan  the 
monuments  and  the  Papyrus  rolls  speak  in  complete 
agreement." 

With  this  identification  as  a  fixed  point,  we  can  go 
back  four  hundred  years,  according  to  the  Bible  chro- 
nology, to  the  time  of  Joseph  ;  and  again,  at  the  close  of 
the  Shepherd  dynasty,  which  is  proved  by  a  wonderful 
memorial  stone  of  the  age  of  Rameses  II.,  to  have  been 
just  four  hundred  years  before,  we  find  a  state  of  things 
exactly  corresponding  to  that  which  is  depicted  in  the 
closing  chapters  of  Genesis,  supplying  all  the  conditions 
which  are  necessary  to  give  the  highest  degree  of  proba- 
bility to  the  history  of  Joseph  as  recorded  there ;  and 
we  can  go  forward  to  the  reign  of  the  immediate  suc- 
cessor of  Rameses  II.  and  find  the  very  character  of  the 
Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,  and  such  a  sudden  cessation  of 
the  boastful  strain  of  the  monuments  as  to  suggest  the 


6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

suspicion  of  some  great  disaster,  like  that  series  of  woes 
ending  in  complete  overthrow,  which  is  narrated  in  the 
book  before  us. 

But  we  must  not  be  tempted  to  spend  too  much  time 
on  these  historical  matters.  They  may  come  up  again 
as  we  travel  onward  in  our  theme.  Meantime,  enough 
has  surely  been  said  to  justify  the  claim  which  has  been 
made  of  a  deep  historical  interest  in  the  subject  before 
us. 

Next,  the  Evangelical  Interest.  And  here  we  have  a 
double  point  of  view.  First,  that  of  the  plain  history, 
viewed  as  a  stage  in  the  development  of  God's  great 
plan  of  Redemption,  leading  on  towards  the  fulness  of 
the  time  when  ''  God  sent  His  Son,  made  of  a  woman, 
made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under 
the  law."  This  view  is  so  obvious  and  so  familiar,  that 
I  need  not  dwell  on  it. 

But  besides  this,  there  is  the  unquestionable  fact, 
recognized  by  all  who  have  any  spiritual  insight  into  the 
Scriptures,  that  we  have  in  the  history  before  us,  not 
only  a  preparation  for  the  great  Salvation  which  was  to 
be  unfolded  in  the  latter  times,  but  an  illustration  or 
series  of  illustrations  of  the  great  Salvation  itself.  This 
the  Apostle  Paul  distinctly  points  out,  when  he  says, 
"  all  these  things  happened  to  them  for  ensamples  "  (lit- 
erally "types");  and  our  Lord  Himself  plainly  suggests 
it,  in  such  a  passage  as  that  in  which  He  makes  use  of 
the  lifting  up  of  the  serpent  on  the  pole  as  a  type  of  His 
own  death ;  or  again,  when  He  connects  so  closely  the 
old  ordinance  of  the  Passover  with  the  new  one  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  This  view  of  the  history  is  quite  familiar 


Israel  in  Egypt.  7 

too ;  but  there  is  a  thought  which  gives  unity  and  con- 
sistency to  the  entire  scheme  of  the  third  age,  embrac- 
ing all  the  three  divisions  of  patriarchal,  national,  and 
church  times,  which  has  almost,  if  not  altogether,  escaped 
notice.  Every  one  knows  that  the  distinctive  promise 
made  to  Abraham  was  the  promise  of  a  seed,  and  every 
one  knows  that  while  this  promise  had  an  immediate 
reference  to  Isaac,  and  a  more  distant  reference  to  the 
seed  of  Israel  as  a  nation,  it  had  its  final  fulfilment  in 
'^  the  Seed  of  the  woman,"  viz.,  Christ.  But  the  precise 
manner  in  which  these  several  fulfilments  are  connected 
together  in  continuity  of  development  has  been  little 
regarded.  It  is  capable  of  being  exhibited  in  more  than 
one  point  of  view  ;  but  at  present  I  shall  take  only  one. 
The  promise  to  Abraham  was  the  promise  of  a  son. 
In  the  first  generation  Isaac  was  the  son  of  promise  to 
the  exclusion  of  Ishmael,  "  as  it  is  written  '  In  Isaac 
shall  thy  seed  be  called.' "  In  the  next  generation  Jacob 
was  the  son  of  promise  to  the  exclusion  of  Esau.  In 
the  third  generation  Joseph"  had  "  the  birthright"  (see 
I  Chron.  v.  i,  2).  Thus  was  the  line  of  promise  filled 
up  in  the  patriarchal  era.  In  the  next,  or  national  era, 
corresponding  with  the  change  of  dispensation,  we  find 
the  son  no  longer  in  an  individual,  but  in  the  nation  as 
a  whole.     Thus,  Exod.  iv.  22 :  "  Israel  is  My  son,  even 


*  Joseph,  though  one  of  the  twelve,  in  a  certain  sense  stands  by 
himself,  "  separated  from  his  brethren  "  (Deut.  xxxiii.  i6).  In  the 
nation  he  is  represented  by  his  two  sons,  who  rank  after  Judah,  the 
ancestor  of  the  Messiah.  There  was  no  tribe  of  Joseph.  We  may 
therefore  regard  him  as  one  of"  the  patriarchs,"  in  a  sense  in  which 
his  brethren  were  not. 


8  The  Mosaic  Era. 

My  firstborn  " ;  and  again  (Hosea  xi.  i),  ''  when  Israel 
was  a  child,  then  I  loved  him,  and  called  My  son  out  of 
Egypt."  Israel  as  a  nation  then,  was  the  fourth  son  in 
^t  the  succession,  and  his  history  covers  all  the  period  of 
the  national  era.  In  the  subsequent  era  we  have  f/ie 
^  Son  of  Promise  sent  in  the  fulness  of  the  time,  to  bless, 
not  only  Abraham's  seed,  but  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth. 

In  view  of  this  succession  how  natural  it  is  to  look  for 
resemblances  between  the  different  sons  of  promise  ; 
how  natural,  especially,  to  find  in  the  earlier  ones  typical 
prophecies  of  the  Great  one  who  was  in  the  fulness  of 
the  time  to  come.  In  another  place*  I  have  shown  how 
Isaac  was  a  type  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  ;  Jacob  as 
the  Son  of  man  ;  Joseph  as  the  "  Saviour  of  the  world," 
and  "  the  Shepherd  and  Stone  of  Israel."  In  the  same 
way  it  may  be  observed  that  the  history  of  the  "  son  " 
of  the  national  era  presented  some  features  strikingly 
suggestive  of  the  history  of  the  Son  of  promise  who 
was  to  come,  such  as  these :  the  miraculous  birth  of  the 
nation,  its  being  called  out  of  Egypt  in  its  childhood,  its 
being  despised  and  rejected  and  evil-intreated  of  men, 
though  never  forgotten  of  God,  and  finally  put  to  death 
by  the  Romans ;  after  which  it  was  raised  again  a  new 
spiritual  body,f  the  church,  according  to  the  plain 
teaching  of  the  Apostle  James  in  the  Council  at  Jeru- 
salem, as  recorded  in  the  15th  chapter  of  Acts  (verses 
14-16).     This  view  of  the  place  of  Israel  in  the  succes- 


*  See  "  Ages  before  Moses,"  Lect.  IX. 
t  See  Appendix  :  Israel  and  Christ. 


Israel  in  Egypt.  9 

sion  of  the  promise  throws  light  upon  many  passages  of 
Scripture  which  have  been  stumbhng-blocks  to  inter- 
preters who  have  failed  to  see  it.  Take,  for  instance, 
that  passage  in  Hosea,  applied  by  the  Evangelist  Mat- 
thew to  Christ:  "  out  of  Egypt  have  I  called  My  son." 
How  often  has  this  been  cited  as  a  misapplication  of  a 
prophecy,  which  manifestly  refers  to  the  nation  of  Israel ; 
and  sometimes  commentators  have  tried  to  defend  it  on 
the  ground  of  its  being  a  mere  accommodation  ;  whereas 
it  is  most  natural,  most  appropriate,  and  most  striking, 
Avhen  we  only  keep  in  mind  the  link  of  connection  be- 
tween the  son  of  the  earlier  and  the  son  of  the  later  era, 
and  the  closely  typical  relation  of  the  former  to  the 
latter.  Or  take  those  passages  where  the  servant  of 
Jehovah  is  spoken  of  in  Isaiah  ;  and  how  erroneous  it  at 
once  is  seen  to  be,  to  conclude  that  because  some  of 
these  passages  seem  to  refer  to  the  nation  of  Israel, 
therefore,  they  do  not  refer  to  the  Holy  One  of  Israel, 
of  whom  the  holy  nation  was  an  imperfect  type.  Here, 
again,  we  might  occupy  a  whole  lecture  in  exploring  this 
inviting  field,  but  we  must  refrain.  Enough  has  prob- 
ably been  said  to  justify  the  claim  for  a  deep  evangelical 
interest  in  this  history. 

Lastly,  the  Personal  Interest  we  may  dismiss  in  a  single 
word,  by  saying  that  *'all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God,  and  is  profitable  (and  few  parts  more  so 
than  the  books  before  us)  for  doctrine,  and  reproof,  and 
correction,  and  instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the  man 
of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all 
good  works." 


10  The  Mosaic  Era. 

The  National  era,  like  the  Patriarchal,  begins  with  an 
'"^  Exodus.  In  fact,  every  dispensation  of  grace  does,  and 
must.  Adam's  Exodus  looks  a  very  sad  one ;  but  after 
he  had  sinned,  it  was  the  only  way  of  safety  for  him.  It 
was  really  in  mercy  to  him  that  the  Lord  brought  him 
out  and  away  from  the  scene  of  his  disobedience.  Noah's 
was  a  strange,  but  most  significant  Exodus,  from  the 
heathenism  of  the  old  world  across  the  boat-bridge  which 
spanned  the  dark  waters  of  judgment.  Abraham's  spir- 
itual career  begins  with  an  Exodus  from  old  heathen 
Fadan-Aram ;  and  all  his  spiritual  descendants  must  be- 
gin their  career  in  like  manner  by  an  Exodus  from  their 
old  unconverted  state.  It  is  quite  in  keeping  then  with 
God's  dealings  with  His  children  in  all  ages,  that  the  first 
step  in  the  history  of  the  chosen  nation  should  be  an 
Exodus. 

The  Exodus,  as  we  all  know,  is  from  Egypt.  But  be- 
fore we  speak  of  the  getting  out,  we  must  have  a  word 
as  to  how  they  got  in,  and  why  they  stayed  in  so  long. 
"Israel  in  Egypt"  is  the  theme  of  the  first  chapter. 

By  a  reference  to  the  history  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xv. 
13),  we  find  that  the  four  hundred  years'  affliction  in 
Egypt  had  been  distinctly  foretold  ;  but  this  only  throws 
us  back  upon  the  previous  question :  Why  was  it  fore- 
told ?  Why  did  it  enter  into  the  Divine  plan  at  all  ? 
We  can  find  in  the  Patriarchal  history  the  answer  to  this 
question  also.  In  Genesis  xlvi.  3,  we  read  that  God 
spake  unto  Israel  in  visions  of  the  night,  and  said :  "  I 
am  God,  the  God  of  thy  father:  fear  not  to  go  down 
into  Egypt ;  for  I  will  there  make  of  thee  a  great  nation." 
The  explanation  of  Israel  in  Egypt  is  found  in  the  pur- 


Israel  in  Egypt.  ii 

pose  of  God  to  make  of  Israel  a  great  nation.  This 
thought  may  be  briefly  expanded  thus  :  time  was  needed 
to  grow  in  numbers ;  contact  with  the  world's  best  civ- 
ilisation was  needed  to  learn  important  lessons  of  na- 
tional wisdom  and  life ;  experience  of  severe  trial  was 
necessary  in  order  to  weld  the  people  firmly  together, 
and  to  teach  them  that,  while  much  was  to  be  learnt 
from  contact  with  the  world,  their  only  safety  lay  in  re- 
liance upon  God.  May  we  not  also  suppose  that  Israel 
was  kept  in  Egypt  so  long,  for  the  purpose  of  showing, 
in  a  very  striking  manner,  how  thoroughly  unsatisfactory 
is  the  world's  greatness  and  glory  apart  from  the  Divine 
presence  and  blessing.  As  this  thought  is,  perhaps,  less 
familiar  than  the  others,  let  us  dwell  upon  it  for  a  little. 

Remember  that  Egypt  was  the  grandest  representa- 
tive of  the  world's  most  ancient  civilisation.  In  some  / 
respects  indeed  she  has  had  no  peer  in  all  the  world's  ^ 
history.  And  the  period  of  the  story  of  Israel  in  Egypt 
was  just  the  period  of  Egypt's  greatest  glory.  It 
covers  all  the  time  of  the  Eighteenth  dynasty,  with  its 
succession  of  illustrious  Thothmes  and  Amenophs,  and 
includes  all  the  glories  of  the  Nineteenth  dynasty,  the 
greatness  of  which  passed  away  with  the  son  of  Rameses, 
who  was  overthrown  in  the  Red  Sea.  Of  Thothmes  III., 
whom  he  calls  "  the  Alexander  the  Great  of  Egyptian 
history,"  Brugsch-Bey  says,  that  he  left  "  a  whole  world 
of  monuments  behind  him,"  "  that  the  riches  in  works 
of  all  kinds  can  scarcely  be  counted,  from  the  largest 
temples  to  the  tiny  scarabaei,  which  all  bear  the  name  of 
the  greatest  king  of  those  times."  This  was  a  sample  of 
the    Eighteenth  dynasty ;    and   yet  it  was  not   till   the 


12  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Nineteenth  and  the  days  of  the  great  Pharaoh  of  Israel's 
oppression,  that  Egypt  attained  the  full  zenith  of  her 
power  and  magnificence,  which  coincided  also  with  a 
culminating  period  in  letters  and  in  art. 

What  a  memorable  four  hundred  years !  Yet  it  is 
passed  over  in  silence  in  the  sacred  records.  Why  ?  Be- 
cause it  had  so  little  of  God  in  it.  Mere  worldly  glory 
finds  no  place  in  the  Divine  records.  It  may  be  "  graven 
with  an  iron  pen,  and  with  lead  in  the  rock  for  ever"; 
but  it  has  no  place  in  the  book  of  remembrance  which  is 
kept  for  the  eye  of  God,  and  of  the  holy  ones  who  in- 
habit eternity.  A  brief  notice  at  the  beginning  ;  a  briefer 
notice  at  the  end ;  that  is  all  we  have  in  the  Divine  rec- 
ord concerning  the  four  hundred  years  which  Israel  spent 
amid  the  surpassing  glories  of  the  ancient  empire  of 
Egypt.  And  what  do  these  notices  tell  us  of  the  effect 
on  Israel  of  their  long  and  close  contact  with  the  world's 
/^  greatest  magnificence  ?  Simply  this  :  they  entered  Egypt 
as  princes ;  before  they  left  it  they  were  slaves.  The 
great  country  of  the  South  was  meant  for  a  school ;  it 
has  proved  a  prison.  ''  The  land  of  Egypt  "  has  become 
''  the  house  of  bondage."  And  that  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  they  prospered  greatly  at  the  first:  "the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  were  fruitful  and  increased  abundantly, 
and  multiplied  and  waxed  exceeding  mighty ;  and  the 
land  was  filled  with  them."  Notwithstanding  the  fact, 
did  we  say?  Quite  probably  for  this  very  reason.  In 
their  prosperity  they  forgot  God,  and  as  a  consequence 
fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  tyranny  of  the  oppressor.  It  is 
no  uncommon  experience  for  a  man,  as  well  as  a  nation, 
to  be  a  prince  before  he  prospers  and  a  slave  after  it. 


Israel  in  Egypt.  13 

Communion  with  God  in  the  solitude  of  old  Canaan 
made  Israel  a  prince  (Gen.  xxxii.  28),  conformity  to  the 
world  amid  the  splendours  of  Egypt  made  Israel  a  slave. 
"  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 

We  have  spoken  of  the  truly  apostolical  succession  of 
Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Israel,  Christ.  Side  by  side  was 
another  succession  of  a  kind  not  at  all  apostolical :  Sodom, 
Egypt,  Babylon,  Rome.  Sodom  was  a  type  of  the  world's 
evil  in  the  early  patriarchal  times.  In  the  early  national 
times,  Egypt,  and  in  the  later  times,  Babylon,  was  the 
great  representative  of  the  World  as  distinguished  from 
the  people  of  God.  In  the  Saviour's  time  it  was  the 
vast  Empire  of  Rome.  This  succession  is  hinted  at  in 
certain  parts  of  the  Apocalypse,  as  for  instance  in  Rev. 
ii.  8,  where  Jerusalem  is  "  spiritually  called  Sodom  and 
Egypt."  Sodom  is  associated  in  our  minds  with  wicked- 
ness only,  though  no  doubt  it  was  a  great  place  in  its 
day  ;  but  Egypt  stands  out  before  us  as  a  fuller  and 
more  adequate  type  of  the  world,  with  her  glory  as  well 
as  her  shame.  And  from  Israel's  relation  to  Egypt  we 
may  learn  two  great  lessons,  one  of  counsel,  the  other  of 
warning :  one  of  counsel  how  to  use  the  world,  the  other 
of  warning  against  abusing  it.  From  God's  purpose  in 
regard  to  Israel  let  us  learn  that  just  as  Egypt  was  neces- 
sary as  a  school  for  His  chosen  people,  so  the  world 
ought  to  be  a  school  for  us.  We  are  not  to  despise  its 
greatness.  No  word  of  contempt  for  Egypt's  greatness 
is  found  in  the  sacred  records.  The  nation  was  intended 
to  learn,  and  did  acquire,  many  useful  arts  which  were  of 
much  service  to  them  afterwards  in  the  Land  of  Promise. 
Moses,  the  chosen  of  God,  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom 


14  The  Mosaic  Era. 

of  the  Egyptians,  and  was  thereby  quahfied  for  the  great 
work  for  which  he  was  called.  In  these  examples  we 
may  see  how  to  use  this  world,  making  it  a  school  to 
prepare  us  for  our  inheritance  and  the  work  the  Lord 
may  have  for  us  there  to  do.  On  the  other  hand,  let  us 
beware  of  so  yielding  to  the  seductions  of  this  evil  world 
as  to  lose  our  hold  of  God,  and  His  covenant,  and  so  in- 
cur the  certainty  of  forfeiting  our  eternal  birthright  and 
becoming  the  world's  slaves,  helping  perhaps  to  rear  its 
mighty  monuments,  with  the  prospect  possibly  of  hav- 
ing our  names  engraved  in  stone  among  the  ruins  of 
some  buried  city,  but  without  the  prospect  of  having 
them  written  *' among  the  living  in  Jerusalem,"  the  eter- 
nal City  of  God.  Earth's  great  ones  belong  to  the  dead 
past ;  but  Heaven's  great  ones  have  their  portion  in  a 
glorious  future. 

Sodom,  Thebes,  Babylon,  Rome,  LONDON !  Yes,  the 
time  is  coming  when  even  London's  wealth  and  grandeur 
shall  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  as  certainly  and  as  impres- 
sively as  that  of  Thebes  is  to-day ;  the  time  is  coming 
when  our  railroads  and  telegraphs  shall  be  as  "  over- 
worn "  as  are 

"  Those  temples,  palaces,  and  piles  stupendous, 
Of  which  the  very  ruins  are  tremendous." 

And  even  our  Stephensons  and  Brunels  will  take  their 
places  with  the  architects  of  the  Pyramids  and  the  engi- 
neers of  Lake  Moeris.  Do  we  rejoice  in  the  scientific 
greatness  of  modern  times?  But  was  there  not  science 
at  least  as  deep,  embodied  in  that  vast  miracle  of  stone 
which  perplexes  the  wits  of  Astronomers   Royal,  and 


Israel  in  Egypt.  15 

leads  even  distinguished  mathematicians  to  see  in  it  a 
miracle  indeed,  a  veritable  revelation  of  scientific  truth 
from  Heaven  ?  Yet  even  the  great  Pyramid  was  not 
too  great  to  die.  It  is  not  railroads  and  telegraphs  and 
modern  improvements  that  are  of  true  and  lasting  con- 
sequence. It  is  the  soul  and  its  training  for  the  life  to 
come  in  the  Land  of  Promise.  Unquestionably  mighty 
London  is  in  the  line  of  succession  from  old  Babylon 
and  older  Thebes  and  Memphis.  But,  blessed  be  God, 
it  is  in  another  line  of  succession.  England's  greatness, 
unlike  that  of  old  Egypt,  is  founded  on  the  Bible  and  on 
Christ.  Therein  lies  the  hope  of  the  nation  for  the  fut- 
ure. And  therein  lies  the  hope  of  each  of  us.  Let  us 
use  our  world  of  England  and  of  London,  as  not  abusing 
it ;  never  forgetting  that  the  fashion  of  it  passeth  away, 
and  making  sure  that  we  have  our  portion  in  the  great 
Eternity,  with  Him  who  shall  guide  us  by  His  counsel, 
and  at  last  receive  us  to  His  glory. 


II. 

THE    WAY   OUT. 
EXODUS  II.-IV. 

NOW  that  Egypt,  intended  for  a  school  of  training, 
has  become  a  house  of  bondage,  a  way  out  of  it 
must  be  found,  unless  God's  promise  is  to  fail.  But 
where  shall  it  be  found  ?  To  human  view  it  was  im- 
possible. Even  the  great  independent  nations  of  the 
North  were  no  match  for  the  mighty  Rameses  and 
what  chance  would  the  poor  slaves  in  the  brick-kilns 
have  against  his  power?  And  the  monarch  of  Egypt 
was  as  strong  at  home  as  he  was  abroad.  The  nation 
was  intoxicated  with  the  glory  of  his  victories  ;  and  to 
oppose  his  will  was  to  brave  the  entire  force  of  two  em- 
pires united  under  one  resistless  head.  There  seemed 
no  way  out. 

But  God  found  a  way  out.  He  always  can,  however 
strongly  barred  the  prison  doors  may  be — ay,  though  the 
prison  be  a  sepulchre  with  a  great  stone  rolled  to  the 
door  of  it,  sealed  with  a  Roman  seal,  and  watched  by  a 
Roman  guard. 

God  could  have  found  many  ways  out  of  Egypt.     He 

was  not  by  any  means  limited  in  His  resources.     He 

might  have  led  His  people  out  by  a  much  shorter  and 

easier  way  fhan  that  which  He  chose;  and  the  story  of 

(i6) 


The  Way  Out.  17 

the  Exodus  might  have  been  as  short  and  simple  as  the 
story  of  the  Resurrection.  And  if  the  only  object  in 
view  had  been  the  deliverance  of  the  people  from  Egypt, 
a  single  stroke — short,  sharp,  and  effectual,  like  that 
with  which  He  smote  the  Assyrians,  who  in  later  times 
came  down  like  a  wolf  on  His  fold — would  have  finished 
the  work  and  set  His  people  free.  But,  in  the  first  place, 
God  is  never  prodigal  of  wonders ;  it  is  only  when 
natural  means  are  insufficient  that  the  supernatural  is 
introduced.  And  then,  besides,  He  had  important 
lessons  to  teach  His  people  which  required  time  for  pre- 
sentation and  impression  ;  and  He  had  important  les- 
sons for  us.  Above  all  He  chose  a  way  out  of  Egypt 
which  should  be  a  most  instructive  and  impressive  pic- 
ture to  all  generations  of  the  only  way  out  of  the  bon- 
dage of  sin.  The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  pictures  of 
salvation ;  but  this  is  the  largest  and  grandest  of  them 
all.  It  is  the  first  that  meets  us  as  we  enter  the  great 
national  gallery,  after  leaving  the  life-like  pictures  of  the 
grand  old  patriarchs.  And  it  stands  alone  like  the 
Madonna  at  Dresden,  as  the  picture  of  the  gallery,  the 
Old  Testament  picture  of  salvation. 

Sometimes  a  picture  is  more  impressive  than  the 
reality.  Have  you  not  often  stood  in  admiration  and 
enjoyment  before  a  picture  of  some  scene  which  would 
not  have  attracted  your  attention  at  all  if  you  had  seen 
the  reality  instead  of  the  mere  representation  of  it? 
And  in  the  same  way  it  often  comes  to  pass  that  the 
pictures  of  salvation  in  the  Old  Testament  are  more  im- 
pressive than  the  salvation  itself  as  presented  in  the 
New.     "  When  Israel  was  a  child,"  the  great  salvation 


1 8  ■   The  Mosaic  Era. 

was  presented  in  pictorial  form ;  and  pictorial  teaching 
is  good,  not  for  children  only,  but  for  grown-up  people 
too.  These  things  were  "  written  for  our  learning " 
also;  and  just  as  by  looking  at  a  good  picture  many 
beauties  are  brought  out  which  we  could  not  have  dis- 
covered for  ourselves  without  the  revelation  which  came 
from  the  artist's  mind  and  the  light  reflected  from  his 
eye,  so  by  looking  at  the  Exodus  picture  of  the  great 
salvation  we  may  learn  some  things  which  even  a  careful 
study  of  Matthew  or  of  John  would  fail  to  disclose,  or, 
at  all  events,  so  deeply  to  impress. 

By  ^'  the  way  out  "  we  do  not  mean  the  whole  story 
of  the  Exodus,  which  will  occupy  us  for  some  time  to 
come;  but  only  those  preparations  which  were  made 
before  the  first  summons  was  addressed  to  mighty 
Pharaoh :  "  Let  My  people  go."  In  the  ordinary 
course  of  God's  working  nothing  is  done  suddenly ; 
and  that  which  appears  to  be  sudden,  is  the  result  of 
a  long  course  of  preparation  that  has  been  quietly  going 
on.  Now,  as  we  look  at  these  chapters  before  us 
(Exod.  ii.,  iii.,  iv.)  we  can  see  a  twofold  preparation  in 
the  providence  of  God  for  the  great  deliverance  which 
w^as  in  course  of  time  to  be  wrought :  (i)  a  Deliverer  pre- 
pared for  the  people,  and,  (2)  the  people  prepared  for 
deliverance.  Let  us  look  at  each  of  these  in  their 
order,  without  attempting,  however,  to  enter  into  details, 
w^hich  it  would  be  vain  to  do,  as  these  chapters  are  so 
rich  and  full  that  almost  every  clause  might  make  a 
sermon. 

L  A  Deliverer  prepared  for  the  people  according  to 
the  Divine  method  :  ''A  man  shall  be  as  an  hiding-place 


The  Way  Out.  19 

from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the  tempest."  The 
man  whom  God  now  chooses  is  Moses,  one  of  the  grand- 
est men,  as  all  acknowledge,  that  ever  walked  upon  this 
earth.  We  have  his  birth  and  education  in  chapter  ii., 
his  call  and  commission  in  chapter  iii.,  and  in  chapter  iv. 
credentials  and  qualifications. 

In  the  story  of  his  infancy, — how  simple,  how  natural, 
how  life-like,  how  manifestly  transparent  and  truthful, 
with  a  striking  absence  of  all  those  miraculous  accom- 
paniments with  which  fable  is  wont  to  encircle  the  in- 
fancy of  its  heroes — in  that  story  we  have  a  striking 
illustration  of  how  God  "  makes  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  Him."  He  uses  Pharaoh's  edict  of  extermination 
against  the  Hebrew  children  as  His  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  the  court  of  Pharaoh  and  the  universities  of 
Egypt  for  that  Hebrew  child  who  is  to  be  Israel's  cham- 
pion, who  shall  open  for  His  people  a  way  out  of  their 
galling  bondage.  It  reminds  us  of  that  cruel  cross, 
which  represented  the  wrath  of  men  who  with  wicked 
hands  attempted  to  destroy  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
but  which  ever  since  has  been  *'  the  power  of  God  and 
the  wisdom  of  God  "  unto  salvation. 

The  education  of  Moses  covers  eighty  years :  forty 
in  Egypt,  forty  in  the  land  of  Midian.  From  this  it 
follows  that  his  birth  must  have  taken  place  about  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Rameses  the  Great ;  and  it 
becomes  exceedingly  interesting  to  contrast  the  mag- 
nificent career  of  the  world's  hero  with  the  quiet  prep- 
aration of  God's  hero,  and  reflect  how  God  makes 
use  of  *^  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
things  that  are  mighty."     The  great  Egyptian  monarch 


20  The  Mosaic  Era. 

is  now  nothing  more  than  "the  shadow  of  a  mighty 
name  "  ;  the  poor  Hebrew  child  has  a  mightier  influence 
in  the  great  world  of  this  nineteenth  century  than  he 
had  even  on  that  awful  night  when  he  wrested  from  the 
relaxing  grasp  of  Rameses*  son  the  victims  of  his  father's 
tyranny. 

Forty  years  in  Egypt,  during  which  he  was  trained 
"  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians," — showing  the 
value  of  a  thorough  education  in  letters  and  art,  science 
and  philosophy,  and  all  that  the  wisdom  of  the  world 
can  give  us,  provided  only  we  keep  all  in  subordination 
to  the  great  aim  of  serving  our  generation  according  to 
the  will  of  God.  This  Moses  evidently  did.  "  By 
faith  Moses,  when  he  was  come  to  years,  refused  to  be 
called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter ;  choosing  rather 
to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God,  than  to  enjoy 
the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  ;  esteeming  the  reproach 
of  Christ*  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  in  Egypt." 
It  is  impossible  to  do  justice  even  in  imagination  to  the 
heroism  of  this  faith.  The  court  of  Pharaoh  was  as 
great  in  those  days  as  the  court  of  England  is  now,  and 
relatively  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  much  greater ;  the 
Hebrews  were  of  no  more  consideration  than  so  many 
gypsies  would  be  among  us.  Imagine  then,  if  you  can, 
what  it  must  have  been  for  one  brought  up  amid  all  the 
splendours  of  the  court,  deliberately  to  prefer  the  reproach 
of  that  despised  people  whom  even  the  common  Egyp- 
tians spoke  of  as  "  lepers  "  ! 

It  is  most  worthy  of  notice  that  there  is  not  a  hint 


*  See  Appendix  :  Israel  and  Christ. 


The  Way  Out.  .  21 

of  faith  or  of  heroism  in  the  narrative  before  us.     We 
are  told,  indeed,  that  he  did  identify  himself  with  the 
oppressed  people  ;  but  it  is  told  in  such  a  way  as  to 
bring  out  the  weakness  of  Moses  rather  than  his  strength 
(see  chap.  ii.  1 1-14).     What  does  this  mean  ?     It  means 
most  undoubtedly  that  Moses  himself  is  the  author  of 
the  story  as  we  have   it   in   Exodus.     If  it  had   been 
written  by  another  hand,  and   in  a  later  age,  as  many 
now-a-days  are  trying  to  make  out,  it  would  have  been 
at  least  appreciative  and  almost  certainly  highly  lauda-* 
tory,  as  in  the  pages  of  Josephus,  for  example ;  whereas, 
in  the  plain  unvarnished  narrative  before  us,  there  is  a 
conspicuous  absence  of  everything   of  the  kind,  while 
every  weakness  is   honestly,  faithfully  recorded.     Evi- 
dently Moses  was  a  most  modest  man,  as  all  truly  great 
men  are.     And  herein,  no  doubt,  is  found  the  solution 
of  those  difficulties  which  some  discover  in  comparing 
the  accounts  in   Exodus  with  certain  references  in  the 
New  Testament,  which  they  are  pleased  to  call  contra- 
dictions, whereas  they  are  only  those  variations  which 
we  always  expect  to  find   between  what  a  great  man, 
with  modesty  proportioned  to  his  greatness,  will  say  of 
himself,  and  what  another  will  say  of  him.     Take  even 
that  which  seems  most  serious  of  all,  where  in  Exodus 
we  are  told  he  "  feared,"  and  in  Hebrews  he  is  spoken 
of  as  "  not  fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king."     Can  you 
doubt  that,  in  the  former  case,  Moses  is  speaking  of  a 
moment   of  weakness   when   his   heart   did    fail    him, 
whereas  in  Hebrews,  it  is  the  general  character  of  the 
man,    in   which    undaunted   courage   was   a   large   and 
almost  constant  element,  which   is    referred   to?     The 


22  .  The  Mosaic  h.RA. 

grandeur  of  the  sacrifice  which  Moses  made  appears 
all  the  greater  that  he  himself  says  nothing  about  it. 
Many  a  small  man  has  never  done  talking  about  the 
small  sacrifices  he  makes ;  but  he  is  a  great  man  indeed, 
who  can  sacrifice  everything  and  say  nothing. 

The  forty  years  in  Egypt  were  followed  by  another 
forty  years  in  the  solitude  of  the  desert.  Egypt  was  a 
good  place  for  a  course  in  arts  ;  but  it  was  no  place  for 
theology.  The  rocks  of  the  desert  make  a  far  better 
•Divinity  hall  than  the  temples  of  Heliopolis.  To  be- 
come truly  acquainted  with  God,  a  man  must  be  much 
alone.  We  are  sometimes  apt  to  be  impatient  of  the 
time  which  is  spent  in  the  inactivity  of  solitary  com- 
munings ;  but  think  of  these  forty  years,  and  learn  the 
value  that  God  puts  on  solitary  communion  and  medita- 
tion as  a  preparation  for  great  and  glorious  service.  We 
must  be  much  alone  with  God,  if  we  would  have  genuine 
power  and  command  lasting  success  in  the  work  He  has 
for  us  to  do.  It  was  evidently  a  time  of  trial  as  well  as  of 
solitary  communing.  It  must  have  been.  Think  of  that 
mighty  spirit,  already  all  on  fire,  as  is  evident  from  his  en- 
counter with  the  Egyptian,  tamed  down  hy  forty  years  of 
waiting !  The  sorrow  of  his  spirit  appears  in  the  name 
he  gives  his  son,  born  to  him  in  the  desert :  "  he  called 
his  name  Gershom  :  for  he  said,  I  have  been  a  stranger 
in  a  strange  land."  As  Egypt  was  the  scene  of  the  trial 
of  his  faith^  it  was  in  Midian  that  patience  had  her  per- 
fect work. 

And  now  that  he  is  fully  trained,  he  is  ready  to  be 
called  and  commissioned.  A  voice  from  out  of  a  bush 
in  the  desert,  burning,  but  unconsumed,  is  the  means 


The  Way  Out.  23 

employed.  We  need  not  dwell  on  so  familiar  a  symbol, 
setting  forth  as  it  does  the  affliction  of  the  people  of 
God  as  a  purifying  but  not  destroying  process,  and  at  the 
same  time  manifesting  the  presence  of  the  glory  of  God 
under  the  old  familiar  appearance,  which  had  first 
greeted  the  eye  of  fallen  man  at  the  gates  of  the  garden. 
Without  going  into  details,  let  me  only  ask  you  to  notice 
the  two  main  thoughts  in  the  revelation  here  made  to 
Moses. 

The  first  is  the  sinfulness  of  man  in  relation  to  the 
Divine  holiness  :  "  draw  not  nigh  hither ;  put  off  thy 
shoes  from    off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon    thou 

standest  is  holy  ground And  Moses  hid  his  face  ; 

for  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon  God  "  (chap.  iii.  5,  6).  I 
The  great  truth  taught  is  this,  and  it  sounds  on  more 
and  more  solemnly  all  through  the  Mosaic  era:  ^  ^'  with- 
out Holiness  no  man  can  see  the  Lord." 

The  other  is  the  love  of  God  in  its  relation  to  hu- 
man sorrow,  oh,  how  beautifully  and  tenderly  expressed  : 
"  I  have  surely  seen  (it  looks  as  if  I  had  not,  but  I  have 
surely  seen)  the  affliction  of  My  people  which  are  in 
Egypt,  and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their  task- 
masters ;  for  I  know  their  sorrows  ;  and  I  am  come  down 
to  deliver  them  "  (ver.  7,  8).  What  Moses  sees  is  the 
appearance  of  devouring  fire  ;  but  what  he  hears  is  the 
blessed  Gospel.  We  need  the  comfort  of  the  word  ad- 
dressed to  the  ear  of  faith,  to  explain  the  mysteries  of 
Nature  and  Providence  which  lie  open  before  the  eye  of 


*  This  is  the  first  time  the  word  "  holy  "  occurs  in  the  Bible.     It 
is  not  found  in  Genesis. 


24  The  Mosaic  Era. 

observation.  "  Behind  a  frowning  Providence  "  God 
often  "  hides  a  smiling  face  "  ;  but  we  should  never  have 
known  it,  had  it  not  been  for  the  revelation  or  unveiling 
of  Himself  which  He  has  given  us  in  His  Word.  The 
fire  we  often  dread  so  much  is  but  a  manifestation  of 
the  Divine  holiness,  while  to  him  that  hath  ears  to  hear, 
there  will  come  from  out  the  heart  of  it  "  a  still  small 
voice,"  telling  most  tenderly  of  a  heavenly  Father's 
love. 

Surely  now  Moses,  after  so  long  waiting  and  such 
thorough  training,  will  be  eager  to  enter  at  once  upon 
his  great  life  work.  But  no.  The  eagerness  of  immatu- 
rity has  gone.  While  all  unprepared  he  was  ready  to 
dash  in.  But  now  that  his  preparation  is  complete,  he 
shrinks  back  from  a  task  which  seems  too  great  for  his 
feeble  powers.  How  true  to  nature,  and  how  full  of  in- 
struction. We  need  not  stop  to  draw  out  the  obvious 
lesson,  nor  can  we  follow  in  detail  the  interesting  account 
of  the  successive  difficulties  which  Moses  raised,  and  the 
way  in  which  God  met  them  all,  dealing  most  gently 
and  kindly  with  His  servant  when  his  hesitation  was 
due  to  a  proper  modesty  and  distrust  of  his  own  powers, 
and  with  a  faithful  but  tempered  severity  when  his  re- 
luctance was  the  result  of  unbelief  and  distrust  of  the 
Divine  power  and  promise.  When  Moses  says  (ver.  ii): 
''  who  am  I  that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh  ?  "  God  an- 
swers, "  certainly  I  will  be  with  thee,"  and  in  mercy  gives 
him  a  token  that  it  was  no  conditional  commission  with 
which  he  was  entrusted,  like  that  of  Jonah  afterwards  to 
Nineveh,  but  one  which  was  absolutely  fixed  and  certain, 
"  When    thou    hast   brought    forth    the   people   out   of 


The  Way  Out.  25 

Egypt,  ye  shall  serve  God  upon  this  mountain  "  (ver.  12). 
When  he  asks  (ver.  13)  "what  shall  I  say?"  God  gives 
him  a  name*  to  proclaim  and  a  message  to  deliver  more 
rich  and  full  of  promise  and  of  hope  than  ever  before 
had  greeted  human  ears.  When  he  interposes  the  diffi- 
culty (iv.  i)  that  the  people  will  not  hearken  to  his 
voice,  God  gives  him  a  series  of  signs  to  be  his  creden- 
tials. When  again  (ver.  10)  he  pleads  that  he  is  slow  of 
speech,  how  striking  the  answer,  with  a  gentle  tone  of 
reproof  in  it,  and  yet  so  tenderly  considerate  of  His 
servant's  infirmity :  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him.  Who 
hath  made  man's  mouth  ?  or  who  maketh  the  dumb,  or 
deaf,  or  the  seeing,  or  the  blind  ?  have  not  I  the  Lord  ? 
Now  therefore  go,  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  and 
teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  say."  But  when  the  gentle 
reproof  has  failed  of  its  purpose,  and  the  servant  still 
shrinks  back  from  the  appointed  task  (ver.  13),  then  the 
Lord  is  angry,  and  while  the  difficulty  is  met,  it  is  met 
in  such  a  way  as  to  limit  by  just  so  much  the  honor 
which  had  been  in  all  its  fulness  intended  for  Moses 
alone,  and  to  prepare  also  no  little  sorrow  in  the  future, 
because  now  the  tongue  the  great  leader  has  to  use  is 
one  far  less  consecrated  than  his  own.  After  this  there 
still  remained  one  difficulty,  not  like  these  others  in  the 
mind  of  Moses,  but  in  his  family,  where  that  important 
rite  which  symbolized  the  covenant  of  the  old  patriarchal 
times  had  been  neglected.  This  explains  the  episode  in 
verses  24-26.  And  now  that  the  lions  are  all  out  of  the 
way,  Moses  is  ready  to  go. 


*  See  Appendix  :  on  the  name  Jehovah. 


26  The  Mosaic  Era. 

But  before  we  leave  the  subject  of  the  preparation  of 
the  DeHverer,  let  us  look  at  those  miraculous  credentials 
by  which  he  was  accredited  to  the  people,  as  set  forth 
in  the  beginning  of  chapter  iv.  It  is  quite  evident  in 
the  first  place  that  signs  were  needed  on  this  occasion. 
The  experience  of  Moses  before,  when  he  stood  forth  as 
the  champion  of  his  oppressed  brethren,  made  it  evident 
that  something  more  than  a  mere  verbal  claim  was  nec- 
essary to  secure  the  confidence  and  allegiance  of  the 
people.  And  the  more  we  look  at  the  signs  which  were 
appointed  for  the  purpose,  the  more  appropriate  we  see 
them  to  be.  It  is  freely  confessed  that  to  a  superficial 
observer  they  have  an  inferior  look,  quite  unlike  the  beau- 
tiful and  truth-like  miracles  recorded  of  Our  Lord  in  the 
Gospels.  But  when  we  take  a  deeper  view,  and  con- 
sider their  relation  to  the  symbolic  language  of  Egypt 
and  to  the  forms  and  modes  of  thought  with  which  the 
children  of  Israel  were  most  familiar,  we  can  see  how 
exceedingly  natural  and  significant  they  were. 

Remember  what  were  the  three  chief  sources  of  dis- 
couragement in  prospect  of  the  great  enterprize.  They 
were  first,  the  weakness  of  Moses  himself  as  matched 
against  the  mighty  Pharaoh  ;  next,  the  weakness  of  the 
people  in  their  degraded  and  despised  estate ;  and  thirdly, 
the  greatness  of  the  mighty  empire  of  Egypt.  A  sign 
was  given  to  quiet  the  apprehensions  of  Moses  and  the 
people  in  relation  to  each  of  these  three  sources  of  dis- 
couragement. 

First,  Moses  felt  himself,  and  was  reckoned  by  the 
people,  so  weak,  that  it  seemed  presumption  to  quit  his 
shepherd  life  and  go  before  Pharaoh.     It  was  like  laying 


The  Way  Out. 


27 


down  a  shepherd's  staff  and  taking  up  a  serpent. ^^  And 
so,  as  a  sign,  Moses  is  told  to  cast  down  his  staff,  and  it 
becomes  a  serpent.  The  sign  allows  that  it  is  a  danger- 
ous work  he  must  now  take  up.  But  when  he  takes  it 
up,  lo,  it  becomes  again  a  rod  in  his  hand  !  It  will  come 
as  easy  to  him,  after  all,  as  his  quiet  shepherd  life.  It 
will  be  no  fanged  serpent  that  he  has  in  his  grasp,  but 
*'  the  rod  of  God,"  f  harmless  to  himself,  mighty  against 
the  foe. 

Next  there  was  the  low  estate  of  the  people,  a 
community  of  lepers,  as  it  were,  for  so  they  were  called 
in  derision  by  the  Egyptians ;  and  treated  like  lepers, 
they  felt  like  lepers  too,  a  usual  consequence  of  long 
continued  degradation.  To  meet  this  sad  discourage- 
ment a  second  sign  was  given.  Moses's  hand  becomes 
leprous  as  snow.  Thus,  as  before,  the  difficulty  is  ac- 
knowledged. But,  as  before,  it  is  triumphantly  met : 
*'  Put  thy  hand  into  thy  bosom  again  "  ;  and  when  he 
plucked  it  out,  it  was  turned  again  as  his  other  flesh. 
God  is  able  to  make  the  leper  clean,  to  change  a  horde 
of  slaves  into  a  host  of  heroes. 

These  signs  were  supposed  to  be  sufficient ;  but  if  they 
still  should  hesitate  at  the  thought  of  the  terrible  might 
of  Egypt,  a  third  sign  is  given :  water  from  the  Nile  is 
changed  into  blood — which  meant  in  symbol  (for  the 
Nile  was  the  life,  and  strength,  and  glory,  and  source  of 
all  the  greatness  of  Egypt,  and  accordingly  was  wor- 
shipped as  the  great  god  of  Egypt)  that  Jehovah  can  in 


*  The  serpent  was  an  emblem  of  royalty  in  Egypt, 
t  See  Exod.  xvii.  9. 


28  The  Mosaic  Era. 

a  moment,  if  He  will,  turn  the  life  of  Egypt  into  death, 
its  glory  into  shame.  Could  you  think  of  any  series  of 
signs  more  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  or  more  fitted  to 
accomplish  the  gracious  purpose  for  which  they  were 
given  ? 

And  here  we  cannot  but  remember  how  the  Lord 
Jesus  comes  to  us,  first  with  His  cross,  which,  with  all 
its  natural  repulsiveness,  becomes  the  rod  of  God  in 
His  hand,  the  very  "  power  of  God  unto  salvation  "  ; 
then  with  His  grace,  which  can  take  the  leprous  heart 
and  make  it  pure  again.  This  is  all  we  need  :  His 
cross  for  pardon,  His  Spirit  of  grace  for  cleansing. 
But  if  we  refuse  to  hearken  to  the  first  sign  and  to  the 
second,  there  is  a  third  in  reserve.  For  those  who 
turn  from  His  cross,  and  refuse  to  receive  His  Spirit, 
there  remaineth  only  "  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of 
judgment.'* 

H.  And  now  having  followed  the  course  by  which  the 
great  Deliverer  v/as  prepared  by  birth  and  training,  by 
call  and  commission,  by  credential  and  qualification,  let 
us  look  at  the  other  side,  and  inquire  how  the  people 
were  prepared  for  deliverance.  This  is  a  very  simple 
matter  and  need  not  detain  us  long.  In  these  chapters 
there  is  a  great  deal  about  the  Deliverer,  and  very  little 
about  the  people.  Two  lines  cover  it  all ;  one  in  the 
23d  verse  of  the  second  chapter :  "  the  children  of  Israel 
sighed  by  reason  of  the  bondage,  and  they  cried  " ;  and 
one  in  the  31st  verse  of  the  fourth  chapter:  "  the  people 
believed :  and  when  they  heard  that  the  Lord  had  visited 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  that  He  had  looked  upon 
their  affliction,  then  they  bowed  their  heads  and   wor- 


The  Way  Out.  29 

shipped."  In  the  first  of  these  two  passages  we  see  the 
people  brought  to  a  sense  of  their  bondage  and  their 
need,  and  constrained  to  cry  for  mercy.  In  the  second 
we  find  them  exercising  faith,  showing  humiHty,  and 
surrendering  themselves  to  the  Divine  guidance.  That 
is  all  that  is  needed.  The  people  are  ripe  for  deliverance 
now. 

And  it  is  all  that  is  needed  for  the  great  salvation  of 
which  the  Exodus  was  a  type.  Let  us  not  imagine  we 
need  to  go  through  a  long  course  of  preparation  so  as  to 
be  ready  for  salvation.  No  forty  years'  training  either 
in  Egypt  or  in  Midian  is  needed  for  this.  We  have  sim- 
ply first  to  realize  our  need,  and  cry  for  mercy  : 

"  All  the  fitness  he  requireth 
Is  to  feel  our  need  of  Him  :  " 

and  then  to  receive  the  mercy  freely  offered,  which  we 
do  by  believing,  bowing  our  heads  in  submission,  and 
worshipping  Him  with  the  homage  of  the  heart  and  de- 
votion of  the  life.  That  is  the  whole  of  salvation  so  far 
as  the  people  are  concerned. 

All  things  are  now  ready.  There  was  indeed  a  long 
course  of  preparation  for  the  coming  of  the  Saviour. 
The  foundations  were  slowly  laid  in  the  course  of  the 
ages  until  in  the  fulness  of  the  time  God  sent  His  Son, 
the  great  Deliverer  from  the  bondage  of  sin.  Like 
Moses,  He  cam.e  after  long  centuries  of  waiting  for  the 
promise  which  was  given  of  old  to  Abraham ;  like  Moses, 
He  proves,  though  a  king's  son,  to  be  one  of  ourselves, 
*'  flesh  of  our  flesh,"  "  not  ashamed  to  call  us  brethren  " ; 
like  Moses,  He  was  indebted  to  Egypt  for  safety  from 


30  The  Mosaic  Era. 

perils  of  His  infancy;  like  Moses,  He  was  rejected  by 
His  own  when  He  espoused  their  cause/^  and  like 
Moses,  He  comes  to  us  with  the  rod  of  His  power  and 
the  sceptre  of  His  grace,  to  call  us  out  of  the  Egypt  of 
sin  and  sorrow  into  "a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey."  "  I  am  the  Way,"  He  says ;  the  way  out  of 
the  bondage  of  sin,  the  way  into  the  liberty  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God. 


*  See  Acts  vii.  35-51. 


III. 

•  PHARAOH  SUBDUED. 

EXODUS  V.-XI.  (XIV.) 

THE  way  out  has  been  prepared  ;  the  going  out  re- 
mains, the  Exodus  proper.  The  account  of  it  is 
long,  extending  from  the  fifth  chapter  to  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth,  for  we  can  scarcely  say  that  the  Exodus  was 
complete  till  the  children  of  Israel  had  passed  through 
the  Red  Sea.  And  here  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the 
Genesis  with  the  Exodus.  The  great  work  of  creation 
is  disposed  of  in  a  single  chapter — how  easily.  The 
work  covered  long  ages,  but  there  was  no  obstacle  in  the 
way,  and  accordingly,  "  He  spake,  and  it  was  done ;  He 
commanded,  and  it  stood  fast."  But  the  work  of  the 
Exodus  is  not  so  easily  accomplished.  It  is  the  work, 
not  of  ages,  but  only  of  a  few  months;  but  it  can  not 
be  disposed  of  in  a  few  sentences.  In  this  work  God 
has  to  do,  not  with  matter,  which  He  can  mould  as  He 
will,  and  fashion  by  His  word  into  forms  of  beauty  and 
wonder,  nor  with  life  in  its  lower  forms,  which  omnipo- 
tence can  so  easily  control ;  but  with  the  human  will, 
whose  princely  freedom  and  responsibility  is  His  own 
gift,  not  to  be  lightly  recalled.  He  could  by  a  single 
word  have  crushed  out  all  opposition  even  of  the  mighty 
monarch  of  Egypt ;    but   He   forbears  to  exercise  this 

(31) 


32  The  Mosaic  Era. 

power  of  external  constraint,  and  chooses  rather  to  deal 
with  His  intelligent  creatures  in  accordance  with  the 
nature  He  has  given  them.  Hence  the  long  controversy 
with  Pharaoh  which  lies  before  us. 

Besides  this,  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  varied  pur- 
poses which  God  had  in  view ;  for  as  we  had  occasion  to 
remark  before.  He  had  other  objects  to  accomplish  be- 
sides the  mere  setting  of  Israel  free.  Some  of  these  are 
referred  to  in  the  course  of  the  narrative.  First,  there 
is  the  revelation  of  Himself  as  Jehovah  (read  especially 
that  very  instructive  passage,  Exod.  vi.  i-8).  The  name, 
indeed,  had  been  known  as  a  mere  name  from  the  begin- 
ning, but  the  import  of  the  name  had  not  been  re- 
vealed ;  there  had  been  no  manifestation  of  its  tender 
and  blessed  significance.^  God  had  made  Himself 
known  to  the  patriarchs  as  Father  and  Friend,  Protector 
and  Guide,  but  not  till  now  did  He  reveal  Himself  as 
Redeemer  and  Saviour.  The  covenant  had  been  made 
with  Abraham,  but  it  had  remained  simply  a  covenant 
of  promise.  "  These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  re- 
ceived the  promises,  but  having  seen  them  afar  off." 
But  now  God  shows  Himself  as  the  covenant-keeping 
God,  faithfully  fulfilling  the  promise  He  has  made,  mani- 
festing for  the  first  time  the  wonders  of  redeeming  love. 

The  humiliation  of  Egypt  was  another  object  in  view, 
as  may  be  seen  by  referring  to  chapter  ix.  i6,  17,  and 
chapter  xii.  12.  How  signally  this  was  accomplished, 
especially  the  executing  of  judgment  against  the  gods 
of  Egypt,  and  proclaiming  the  name  of  the  redeeming 


See  Appendix  :  on  the  name  Jehovah. 


Pharaoh  Subdued.  33 

God  of  Israel  as  high  above  them  all,  will  be  seen  when 
we  come  to  the  series  of  plagues.  A  third  purpose,  viz., 
the  education  of  Israel,  is  referred  to  in  chapter  x.  2, 
where  the  Lord  says  to  Moses :  "  I  show  these  My  signs 
....  that  thou  mayest  tell  in  the  ears  of  thy  son,  and 
of  thy  son's  son,  what  things  I  have  wrought  in  Egypt." 
Finally,  there  is  the  instruction  of  the  ages  to  come,  as 
the  Apostle  Paul  shows  so  strikingly  in  his  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  (i  Cor.  x.  i-ii).  Thus  we  see  that  there 
were  reasons  of  many  kinds,  why  God  did  not  over- 
power Pharaoh  in  a  moment,  as  He  could  so  easily  have 
done,  but  chose  rather  to  bring  about  the  liberation  of 
His  people  by  the  much  slower,  but  more  instructive 
and  impressive  method  recorded  in  the  chapters  before 
us. 

There  are  two  main  things  to  be  studied  in  the  story 
of  the  Exodus:  I.  How  God  subdued  Pharaoh.  II. 
How  God  saved  Israel.  The  former  is  set  forth  in  chap- 
ters v.-xi.,  the  latter  in  chapters  xii.,  xiii.,  while  the  cul- 
mination of  both  is  presented  in  all  its  grandeur  in 
chapter  xiv.  The  former  is  the  subject  of  the  present 
lecture. 

But  before  we  look  at  the  details  of  the  long  conflict 
with  Pharaoh,  let  us  glance  at  the  spiritual  significance 
of  it  all.  Pharaoh  is  God's  enemy,  Israel  God's  people. 
We  all  of  us  have  our  Israel  side,  for  are  we  not  in  the 
image  of  God  ?  And  we  all  of  us  have  our  Pharaoh 
side,  for  are  we  not  all  sinners?  And  by  nature,  alas, 
the  Pharaoh  side  has  the  upper  hand,  and  keeps  the 
Israel  side  in  bondage,  until  our  Redeemer  God,  by  the 
power  of  His  sovereign  grace,  subdues  our  sins  and  sets 


34  The  Mosaic  Era. 

our  spirits  free.  Let  us  remember  then,  as  we  learn  how 
God  subdued  Pharaoh,  that  we  are  looking  at  a  picture 
of  God  subduing  sin  in  human  hearts,  that  He  may  lib- 
erate the  higher  nature  which  it  had  enslaved.  We  have 
in  it  all  a  type  of  the  great  work  of  emancipation  under- 
taken by  Him  who  came  "  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are 
bound." 

The  conflict  begins  with  the  simple  demand,  "  Let  My 
people  go,  that  they  may  hold  a  feast  unto  Me,  in  the 
wilderness  "  (chap.  v.  i).  The  demand  was  most  moder- 
ate and  most  reasonable.  No  occasion  was  given  to 
Pharaoh  to  harden  his  heart.  We  cannot  suppose  in- 
deed that  even  if  he  had  granted  this  reasonable  request, 
nothing  more  would  have  been  asked.  But  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  if  he  had  showed  a  disposition  to  yield  to 
the  claims  of  the  God  of  Israel,  the  ultimate  liberation 
of  the  people  would  have  been  brought  about  in  a  way 
that  would  have  entailed  no  suffering  or  distress  on  him 
(see  chap.  vii.  4).  Had  he  yielded,  he  would  no  doubt 
have  brought  blessing  to  himself  and  to  Egypt,  rather 
than  otherwise.  But  he  did  not.  He  scornfully  replied, 
"  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I  should  obey  His  voice,  to  let 
Israel  go  ?  I  know  not  the  Lord,  neither  will  I  let  Israel 
go."  The  result  was  that  matters  became  worse  instead 
of  better  (chap.  v.  4-19),  the  people  murmured  against 
Moses  (ver.  20,  21),  and  Moses  himself  was  sadly  dis- 
couraged (ver.  22,  23). 

And  here  we  have  a  beautiful  illustration  of  how 
''  God  knoweth  our  frame,  and  remembereth  that  we  are 
dust."      Instead   of    showing  any  displeasure  with    the 


Pharaoh  Subdued.  35 

people,  and  especially  with  Moses,  who  might  have  re- 
membered the  strong  words  of  assurance  he  had  so  lately- 
heard  at  the  burning  bush,  the  Lord  draws  tenderly  near, 
and  without  a  single  word  of  reproach,  renews  His 
gracious  promise  in  still  stronger  and  fuller  terms  (vi.  i-' 
8),  and  sends  it  as  a  message  of  cheer  to  His  afflicted 
people.  Yet  still  the  people  were  uncomforted  ;  "  they 
hearkened  not  unto  Moses  for  anguish  of  spirit,  and  for 
cruel  bondage  "  (ver.  9).  And  still  Moses  was  far  from 
being  reassured  (ver.  12,  30).  We  see  at  once  how  true 
to  nature  all  this  is.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  find  consolation 
even  in  the  richest  promises,  when  the  waves  and  billows 
are  rolling  over  us.  There  are  those  who  have  had  grace 
to  show  themselves  strong  in  faith  even  when  the  fur- 
nace has  been  seven  times  heated ;  and  it  is  a  noble  wit- 
ness for  God,  when  His  people  can  honor  him  in  this 
way.  Let  us  by  all  means  aim  at  it  when  our  day  of 
trial  shall  come.  But  if  we  fall  short,  as  many  have  done 
and  still  will  do,  let  it  be  a  comfort  to  think  how  God 
bore  with  His  people's  faintheartedness,  and  did  not 
allow  their  want  of  confidence  in  Him  to  be  a  barrier  to 
His  abounding  grace.  "  O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord, 
for  He  is  good :  for  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  Let 
the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so,  whom  he  hath  re- 
deemed from  the  hand  of  the  enemy"  (Ps.  cvii.  i,  2). 

The  demand  was  made  a  second  time  with  an  accom- 
panying sign,  a  simple  sign  given  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
vincing Ph-^raoh  that  it  was  indeed  God  who  summoned 
him  to  yield.  He  had  said,  "  I  know  not  the  Lord,"  but 
now  that  excuse  was  taken  from  him  by  the  miraculous 
token  which  Moses  was  commanded  to  display  in  his 


36  The  Mosaic  Era. 

presence.  And  though  the  magicians  came  to  his  res- 
cue, he  must  have  known  that  it  was  a  mere  evasion,  for 
Pharaoh  could  not  well  have  been  ignorant  of  their  de- 
vices ;  and,  besides,  they  were  utterly  discomfited  in  the 
presence  of  the  two  Hebrew  commissioners,  for  "  Aaron's 
rod  swallowed  up  their  rods"  (vii.  12).  But  still  the 
heart  of  Pharaoh  was  hardened,  and  he  refused  to  let 
the  people  go. 

The  demand  is  made  a  third  time ;  and  as  the  simple 
sign  has  failed,  the  plague  signs  begin.  Let  us  pause  a 
moment  here  to  note  how  God  deals  with  those  who  op- 
pose His  will.  He  comes  first  with  a  word,  a  simple 
word  of  counsel  and  warning ;  and  blessed  are  those  who 
listen  to  Him  as  soon  as  He  intimates  His  will  in  this 
quiet  and  pleasant  way.  But  if  His  word  is  unheeded. 
He  will  approach  with  a  sign  ;  some  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances, perhaps,  which  makes  the  demand  impres- 
sive, and  plainly  suggests  the  thought — "  it  is  the  Lord 
that  is  speaking;  it  is  His  Spirit  that  is  striving  with 
me."  But  if  the  sign  is  also  unheeded,  what  remains? 
How  else  can  He  call  attention  to  His  neglected  word 
than  by  sending  forth  His  plagues?  When  words  fail, 
and  signs  fail.  He  must  come  to  blows.  "  He  does  not 
afflict  willingly,"  but  we  often  by  our  want  of  heed  com- 
pel Him  to  afRict.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  none  of  us  pro- 
voke the  Lord  to  anger  as  Pharaoh  did. 

It  is  needless  to  attempt  to  deny  the  miraculous  nat- 
ure of  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  It  is  true  that  most  of 
them  have  a  natural  basis  in  the  familiar  phenomena  of 
Egypt ;  but  then  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  they 
came  at  the  word  of  Moses,  and  went  at  the  word   of 


Pharaoh  Subdued.  37 

Moses,  one  after  another,  and  at  the  word  of  Moses 
would  spare  the  land  of  Goshen,  where  Israel  lived. 
And  these  and  other  wonders  in  the  book  are  so  inter- 
woven with  the  rest  of  the  narrative,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  discredit  the  one  without  destroying  the  other. 
And  why  should  there  be  such  hesitation  to  admit  the 
supernatural  on  an  occasion  when  it  was  so  plainly  need- 
ed ?  When  we  consider  the  long  reaches  of  time  cover- 
ed in  the  Bible  history,  it  is  only  at  long  intervals  that 
miracles  are  introduced  ;  and  when  we  look  closely,  we 
find  that  the  occasions  when  they  are  introduced  are 
just  the  very  occasions  when  we  should  naturally  expect 
such  manifestations.  Enough  has  been  said  about  the 
importance  of  the  Exodus  and  of  the  Mosaic  era  as  a 
whole,  to  justify  the  expectation  that  God  would  give 
some  signal  tokens  of  His  presence  and  His  power  at 
that  epoch  ;  and  when  we  find  our  expectations  justi- 
fied in  the  narrative,  it  should  be  a  help  and  not  a  hin- 
drance to  our  faith.  And  not  only  is  it  natural  that 
miracles  should  be  wrought  at  this  particular  time,  but 
the  miracles  which  are  recorded  are  found,  when  closely 
examined,  to  be  just  those  that  were  needed  to  accom- 
plish the  varied  purposes  which  Jehovah  had  in  view. 
We  have  had  occasion  to  note  this  in  regard  to  the  three 
signs  which  vv^ere  given  to  Moses  as  his  credentials  to  the 
people,  and  one  of  which  was  used  in  the  presence  of 
Pharaoh  before  recourse  was  had  to  the  plague-signs, 
which  are  now  under  consideration.  It  is  no  less  con- 
spicuous in  the  plague-signs  themselves.  And  here  we 
can  see  how  much  better  it  was  that  the  plagues 
should    come    in    the   shape  of   natural   phenomena  of 


38  The  Mosaic  Era. 

the  land  of  Egypt,  rather  than  in  some  quite  unfa- 
miUar  form. 

In  the  first  place  this  would  serve  to  show  that  it  was 
no  momentary  external  power  which  the  God  of  the 
Hebrews  had  obtained  over  Egypt,  just  as  a  foreign 
king  might,  by  the  use  of  foreign  resources,  gain  a  tem- 
porary advantage  ;  but  that  He  had  control  of  the  forces 
which  were  in  the  land  itself,  and  therefore  had  an  abid- 
ing power  which  no  length  of  resistance  could  weaken  or 
defy.  Thus  He  showed  Himself  to  be  "  Lord  in  the 
midst  of  the  land,"  as  it  is  put  in  chapter  viii.  22.  How 
strikingly  and  completely  this  was  done  will  appear  when 
we  consider  that  the  pride  and  glory  of  Egypt,  as  well 
as  its  common  pests,  were  used  as  instruments  of  the 
plagues.  The  majestic  Nile,  source  of  Egypt's  great- 
ness ;.  the  transparent  atmosphere,  so  serene  and  lovely 
under  the  splendours  of  an  Egyptian  sun — on  these  God 
laid  His  mighty  hand,  turning  the  water  into  blood,  and 
spreading  a  pall  of  darkness  over  all  the  sky.  And  then 
the  frogs,  the  flies,  the  locusts,  with  which  the  people 
were  all  so  painfully  and  frequently  familiar — lo,  they 
came,  they  went ;  they  multiplied,  diminished,  disap- 
peared, at  the  bidding  of  Jehovah,  God  of  Israel.  Thus 
impressively  did  He  demonstrate  that  He  was  "  Lord  in 
the  midst  of  the  land." 

We  have  still  another  point  of  view  in  Exodus  xii.  12, 
already  referred  to  :  '^  Against  all  the  gods  of  Egypt  will 
I  execute  judgment."  The  worship  of  the  Nile-god,  and 
of  the  Sun-god,  their  scarabaei  and  their  sacred  bulls,  and 
some  of  their  most  valued  rites  and  superstitions,  were 
brought  into  contempt  by  the  several  plagues  which  the 


Pharaoh  Subdued.  39 

Lord  made  use  of  to  humble  Egypt,  and  execute  judg- 
ment against  its  gods.  The  effect  on  the  mind  of  the 
on-looker  is  strikingly  exhibited  in  the  words  of  the 
Midianite  Jethro  (xviii.  11):  "Now  I  know  that  the 
Lord  is  greater  than  all  gods :  for  in  the  thing  wherein 
they  dealt  proudly  He  ivas  above  tJiem.''  Is  it  not  evi- 
dent, then,  that  it  was  much  more  instructive  and  im- 
pressive for  God  to  lay  His  hand  on  those  natural  phe- 
nomena which  had  been  ascribed  by  the  Egyptians  to 
the  agency  of  their  own  gods,  than  if  He  had  visited 
them  with  some  unheard-of  catastrophe? 

Once  more,  we  have  in  this  feature  of  the  plagues  an 
indication  of  the  genuineness  of  the  history.  If  the  au- 
thor of  Exodus  had  set  himself  to  invent  miracles,  they 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  been  unearthly,  unnatural, 
and  fantastic ;  but  when  we  find  them  so  intimately  re- 
lated to  the  known  phenomena  of  Egypt,  and  so  admi- 
rably chosen  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  those  de- 
signs which  are  contemplated  in  the  whole  transaction, 
have  we  not  a  strong  corroboration  of  their  genuineness 
and  truth  ? 

It  is  interesting  also  to  look  at  the  plagues  as  a  pro- 
gressive series.  Look  first  at  the  ascending  series  in 
nature,  beginning  with  the  water  turned  into  blood,  and 
the  frogs  coming  out  of  it  on  the  earth ;  then  the  gnats 
and  flies  in  the  lower  atmosphere,  and  afterwards  the  lo- 
custs in  the  upper  air ;  after  which  the  sun  is  reached, 
and  darkness  is  over  all  the  land  ;  while  the  scries  ends 
with  an  arrest  upon  life  itself,  the  life  of  the  firstborn  of 
man,  creation's  crown.  Or,  looking  at  the  series  as  rep- 
resenting the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptian  deities,  we  rise 


40  The  Mosaic  Era. 

from  the  Nile-god  below  to  the  Sun-god  above,  with  all 
kinds  of  intermediate  deities  between.  Or  again,  we  may 
view  the  series  as  one  of  increasing  severity  throughout 
the  successive  gradations  of  discomfort,  loss,  personal 
suffering,  death.  Or  finally,  we  may  look  at  it  as  ad- 
vancing from  the  less  to  the  greater,  beginning  with 
that  lower  field  in  which  the  magicians  were  able  to  per- 
form similar  wonders  with  their  enchantments  ;  then  ris- 
ing to  a  plane  where  they  could  not  even  profess  to  fol- 
low (viii.  19),  and  ending  by  those  marvellous  "  divisions  '* 
between  Egypt  and  Israel  (ver.  2^),  which  culminated  on 
that  eventful  night  when  the  destroying  angel  passed  by 
the  houses  of  the  people  of  the  Lord  ;  so  that  each  suc- 
cessive plague  rendered  more  conspicuous  the  resistless 
might  and  exhaustless  resources  against  His  enemies  and 
for  His  people,  of  Jehovah  God  of  Israel. 

So  much  for  the  thrice  repeated  demand,  first  with  a 
simple  word,  then  v/ith  a  simple  sign,  and  lastly  with  a 
series  of  plague-signs  increasing  in  severity,  till  the 
haughty  monarch  of  Egypt  was  forced  to  yield.  But 
we  must  not  miss  the  instruction  v/hich  is  conveyed  in 
the  way  in  which  Pharaoh  bore  himself  under  these  suc- 
cessive visitations.  We  have  seen  that  he  paid  no  at- 
tention to  the  word,  and  none  to  the  sign.  He  had  of 
course  to  pay  attention  to  the  plagues.  Let  us  see  in 
what  fashion  he  did  so. 

The  first  plague  seems  only  to  have  made  him  sullen, 
and  more  obstinate  than  ever(vii.  23).  The  next  brings 
him  to  his  knees  with  a  prayer  and  a  promise  (viii.  8); 
but,  when  at  his  request  the  plague  is  removed,  he  takes 
back  his  word,  and  is  as  rebellious  as  before  (ver.  15),  and 


Pharaoh  Subdued.  41 

carries  the  same  spirit  throughout  the  third  plague.  The 
fourth  plague  apparently  brings  him  to  his  senses,  for  he 
sends  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  says  (ver.  25):  *'Go  ye, 
sacrifice  to  your  God."  But  it  proves  only  to  be  a  promise, 
for  he  has  no  intention  yet  to  let  them  go  the  three  days' 
journey  into  the  wilderness  to  sacrifice  there.  He  allows 
them  to  sacrifice,  but  it  must  be  "  in  the  landy  The 
compromise  is  not  accepted  (ver.  26,  27).  He  then  pro- 
poses another:  "  I  will  let  you  go,  that  ye  may  sacrifice 
to  the  Lord  your  God  in  the  wilderness  ;  only  ye  shall 
not  go  very  far  away."  A  third  compromise  is  attempt- 
ed later  on  (x.  8) :  "  Go,  serve  the  Lord  your  God  :  but 
who  are  they  that  shall  go  ?  "  ""  Your  little  ones  shall 
not  go"  (ver.  10,  11).  And  when  this  is  utterly  rejected, 
a  fourth  is  proposed  (ver.  24) :  ''  Go  ye,  serve  the  Lord ; 
let  your  little  ones  also  go  with  you  ;  only  let  your  flocks 
and  your  herds  be  stayed."  But  e\'en  this  last  will  not 
avail.  The  stern  answer  of  Moses  is  :  "  Our  cattle  also 
shall  go  with  us  ;  there  shall  not  an  hoof  be  left  behind." 
Still  further  on  he  seems  to  make  an  unconditional  sur- 
render (xii.  31,  32)  ;  but  it  is  only  a  forced  surrender;  it 
is  not  genuine.  His  heart  is  not  in  it,  as  is  proved  by 
his  subsequent  conduct  (xiv.  8)  in  pursuing  the  children 
of  Israel  after  they  had  gone.  The  result  is  that,  after 
such  long  forbearance,  and  so  many  reprieves,  the  long 
suspended  judgment  must  fall ;  and  Pharaoh  and  his 
host  are  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea. 

Time  would  fail  to  gather  the  weighty  lessons  in  all 
this  ;  and  indeed  they  stand  out  with  such  startling  dis- 
tinctness that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  call  attention 
to  them.     Have  not  many  of  us  resisted  God  very  much 


42  The  Mosaic  Era. 

as  Pharaoh  did,  at  some  part  or  other  of  the  long  con- 
troversy? And  have  there  not  been  at  all  times  too 
many  who  have  followed  Pharaoh  all  the  way  through, 
and  shared  his  terrible  fate  in  the  end  ?  We  have 
already  spoken  of  the  danger  of  that  trifling  with  God, 
which  appeared  in  the  earlier  stages ;  let  us  now  inter- 
pose a  word  of  warning  against  those  attempts  at  com- 
promise which  were  characteristic  of  the  middle  stages. 
Are  not  these  compromises  of  Pharaoh  just  the  kind  of 
compromises  the  sinner  is  most  apt  to  make  when  he  is 
summoned  to  come  out  and  be  separate?  He  is  ready 
to  say,  "  Why  should  I  come  ?  May  I  not  sacrifice  to 
God  in  the  land  ?  Religion  is  a  good  thing,  a  most  ex- 
cellent thing ;  but  may  I  not  have  it  and  the  world  too  ?  " 
No,  it  will  not  do.  We  must  come  out  and  be  separate. 
It  will  not  merely  do  to  graft  a  religious  life  on  the  old 
life.  It  will  not  do  to  leave  the  old  as  it  was,  and  only 
add  on  some  Bible  reading  and  praying  and  church  at- 
tendance. There  must  be  a  radical  and  thorough 
change.  ''  Verily  I  say  unto  you :  ye  must  be  born 
again."  No  compromise :  no  sacrificing  to  God  in  the 
land. 

Then  the  next  temptation  will  be  to  make  a  second 
compromise,  somewhat  in  this  manner :  "  I  will  come 
out,  but  I  will  not  go  very  far  away ;  I  w  ill  hang  on  the 
borders  of  my  old  worldliness  and  sin."  This  is  what 
many  do ;  but  it  is  at  a  fearful  risk,  for  they  are  in  con- 
stant danger  of  relapse.  The  fate  of  the  stony-ground 
hearers  is  all  too  common. 

Further  on  in  a  man's  history  comes  the  danger  of 
the   third  compromise  :  "  the   grown-up   ones   may  go  ; 


Pharaoh  Subdued.  43 

but  the  little  ones  must  stay."  It  is  a  sad  thing  to 
think  how  many  there  are  in  these  days,  who  though 
themselves  brought  up  under  the  best  of  religious  in- 
fluence, with  regular  family  worship  at  home,  and  every- 
thing fitted  to  lead  them  in  the  right  way,  and  though 
still  retaining  their  old  associations  and  church  connec- 
tions, are  not  nearly  so  careful  to  train  their  children  for 
the  Lord.  They  have  family  worship  irregularly  or  not 
at  all.  They  do  not  teach  their  children,  as  their  fathers 
and  mothers  taught  them  ;  or  pray  with  them  as  they 
were  prayed  with.  Let  no  such  compromise  be  known 
amongst  us.  Let  us  be  as  thoroughly  in  earnest  as 
Israel  was,  to  have  our  children  with  us  in  sacrificing  to 
the  Lord  our  God. 

The  fourth  compromise  is  a  very  common  one  indeed  : 
"  Take  your  little  ones  with  you  ;  but  leave  your  prop- 
erty behind."  There  are  some  people  who  are  willing 
that  conversion  should  reach  everything  else,  provided  it 
let  the  purse  alone.  If  you  come  to  the  Lord,  you 
must  come  property  and  all ;  and  let  it,  as  well  as  your- 
self, be  His.  Take  warning  by  the  fate  of  the  young 
man,  who  ''  went  away  sorrowful,  because  he  had  great 
possessions."     There  should  not  be  an  hoof  left  behind. 

So  much  for  the  middle  stage  and  its  lessons.  A 
word  now  on  the  last  stage.  Its  solemn  lesson  is  this  : 
"  He  that  being  often  reproved  hardeneth  his  neck, 
shall  be  suddenly  cut  off,  and  that  without  remedy." 
Need  we  delay  over  the  supposed  difficulty  of  God  hard- 
ening Pharaoh's  heart  ?  Remember  that  it  is  just  as 
often  put  the  other  way,  that  Pharaoh  hardened  his  own 
heart.      The  two   things  are  really   identical ;  and  the 


44  The  Mosaic  Era. 

explanation,  we  believe,  is  to  be  found  in  this,  that 
Pharaoh,  by  his  conduct,  put  himself  under  the  operation 
of  the  invariable  law,  according  to  which  a  man's  heart 
becomes  harder,  the  longer  he  resists  Divine  mercy  and 
grace.  Inasmuch  as  Pharaoh  himself  resisted,  he  hard- 
ened his  own  heart.  Inasmuch  as  the  law,  under  whose 
operation  he  brought  himself,  was  God's  law,  God  hard- 
ened his  heart.  It  is  the  same  process  viewed  from  its 
two  sides.  And  the  fact  that  there  is  such  a  law  of 
hardening  to  which  every  one  subjects  himself  who  re- 
sists the  grace  of  God,  should  impress  us  all  most  deeply 
with  the  danger  of  resisting  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  is  a 
great  mistake  to  suppose  that  God  singled  out  Pharaoh, 
or  that  He  ever  singles  out  any  one  and  says,  "  I  will 
harden  his  heart "  ;  and  then  proceeds  to  do  it.  The 
supposition  is  monstrous.  But  the  solemn  truth  is  this, 
that  by  the  operation  of  that  well-known  law,  according 
to  which  the  soul  becomes  less  and  less  susceptible  to 
impressions  which  have  been  resisted,  God  hardens  the 
heart  of  every  man  and  woman  that  does  not  yield  to 
Him.  Think  how  many  men  have  hardened  themselves 
in  dishonesty,  by  first  using  for  a  little  time  a  small  sum 
of  money  not  their  own,  which  prepared  them  by-and-by 
for  using  a  larger  sum,  fully  intending  to  replace  it,  and 
so  it  went  on,  the  hardening  process  going  on  all  the 
while,  till  it  ended  in  the  most  shameless  robbery,  and 
brought  final  ruin  and  disgrace.  How  many  men,  again, 
are  "  gospel  hardened,"  as  it  is  fitly  called.  They  have 
so  often  listened  to  the  appeals  of  the  gospel  without 
yielding  to  them,  that  their  hearts  have  become  as  "  hard 
as  the  nether  millstone,"  and  the  most  earnest  appeals 


Pharaoh  Subdued.  45 

have  not  the  sHghtest  effect.  Pharaoh's  case  is  not  at  all 
pecuHar.  It  is  typical  of  thousands  in  every  generation. 
God  dealt  most  tenderly  with  him,  with  the  utmost  long- 
suffering  and  forbearance,  through  scorn  and  evasion, 
through  defiance,  through  sham  prayers  and  sham  prom- 
ises, sham  repentance,  and  sham  submission ;  but  all  in 
vain,  his  heart  grew  harder  and  harder  all  the  time,  till 
he  was  swallowed  up  in  the  angry  waters  of  the  Red 
Sea.  Who  ever  had  more  chances  of  escape?  Yet 
what  was  the  end  ?  Had  he  only  regarded  the  voice 
which  came  so  gently  at  the  first,  or  the  harmless  sign, 
all  had  been  well ;  or  had  he  but  recognised  '^  the  finger 
of  God  "  as  the  magicians  did  (viii.  13),  he  would  have 
had  nothing  to  fear  from  His  '^  outstretched  arm." 

Wherever  there  is  sin,  there  must  be  destruction  in 
the  end.  Destruction  either  for  the  sinner  or  for  the 
sin.  The  wages  of  sin  is  Deaths  necessarily ;  and  the 
only  question  is,  shall  it  be  death  to  the  sin,  or  death  to 
the  sinner  ?  The  sin  and  the  sinner  cannot  both  live. 
One  or  other  must  die.  God  takes  no  pleasure  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  sinner,  and  therefore  it  is  that  He  seeks 
to  destroy  the  sin.  Had  Pharaoh  allowed  his  sin  to 
perish  under  the  hand  of  God,  he  himself  would  have 
been  saved.  But  clinging  to  his  sin,  he  perished  in  it. 
Either  sin  in  us  must  be  destroyed  now ;  or  the  time  is 
coming  when  we  shall  be  destroyed  in  it.  As  we  said 
in  the  beginning,  we  have  our  Pharaoh  side  and  our 
Israel  side.  Which  side  will  you  hold  by?  If  we  hold 
by  the  Pharaoh  side  of  rebellion  against  God,  we  must 
"all  likewise  perish."  But  if  we  hold  by  the  Israel  side, 
if  we  cling  to  the  covenant  which  makes  us  God's  chil- 


46  The  Mosaic  Era. 

dren,  then,  though  the  old  man  be  crucified,  and  buried 
as  under  the  Red  Sea  waves,  the  new  man  will  emerge 
on  the  farther  shore,  with  a  song  of  praise  on  his  lips, 
and  the  march  to  the  Land  of  Promise  before  him. 
But  this  leads  us  into  the  second  great  division  of  our 
subject,  which  will  be  considered  in  the  next  lecture : 
How  God  saved  Israel. 


IV. 

ISRAEL    SAVED. 

EXODUS  XII.-XIV. 

THE  tenth  plague  seemed  thoroughly  to  subdue 
the  obdurate  heart  of  Pharaoh.  He  attempted 
no  more  compromises.  He  came  by  night  and  be- 
sought Israel  to  go,  taking  their  children  and  their 
cattle  with  them,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  sue  for 
mercy  himself  (xii.  32). 

And  yet  the  Exodus  is  by  no  means  complete. 
There  must  be  something  done  for  Israel  as  well  as 
against  Pharaoh.  Israel  must  be  saved  as  well  as 
Pharaoh  subdued.  These  two  processes,  the  subduing 
of  Pharaoh  and  the  saving  of  Israel,  are  not  sharply 
separated  in  time.  They  go  on  in  parallel  lines.  But 
it  is  quite  easy,  and  I  think  we  shall  find  it  advanta- 
geous, to  separate  them  in  thought.  And  accordingly, 
having  in  our  last  lecture  followed  the  course  of 
Pharaoh  to  his  complete  overthrow  in  the  waters  of  the 
Red  Sea,  we  now  return  to  follow  the  course  of  Israel 
along  the  way  of  salvation  which  the  Lord  prepared  for 
them.  We  have  already  (Lecture  11.)  witnessed  the 
preparatory  stages  of  the  process  by  which  Israel  is 
saved  ;  we  come  now  to  the  great  salvation  itself,  as  set 
forth  so  strikingly  in  the  chapters  before  us  (xii.-xiv.) 

The  more  recent  plagues  had  fallen  upon  Egypt  alone. 

(47) 


48  The  Mosaic  Era. 

The  children  of  Israel  were  saved  from  them.  But 
though  the  fact  of  salvation  was  obvious,  the  way  of 
salvation  had  not  yet  been  indicated.  But  now  that 
the  last  and  heaviest  plague  is  about  to  fall,  not  only 
will  Israel  be  saved  from  it,  but  the  ground  on  which 
salvation  is  bestowed  will  be  made  plain.  Not  only  the 
difference  between  Egypt  and  Israel,  but  the  reason  of 
the  difference,  is  signalized  in  the  history  of  the  tenth 
plague.     This  will  appear  as  we  proceed. 

A  sentence  of  death  is  hanging  over  Egypt  —  over 
every  home  in  it.  But  Israel  is  in  Egypt  still.  Why 
not  then  over  the  homes  of  Israel  too  ?  Were  they  so 
much  better  than  the  Egyptians  ?  Surely  not.  Beyond 
all  doubt  there  could  have  been  found  amongst  the 
Egyptians  many  whose  character  was  superior  to  that 
of  the  average  Israelite,  and  certainly  the  children  of 
Israel  would  have  among  them  a  sufficient  number  of 
poor  enough  specimens  of  humanity.  If  the  test  had 
been  one  of  character,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  line 
would  not  have  run  so  as  to  range  all  Egypt  on  the  one 
side,  and  all  Israel  on  the  other.  No  one  can  suppose 
that  all  the  real  worth  and  excellence  were  on  the  side 
of  the  latter,  and  all  the  meanness  and  wickedness  on 
the  side  of  the  former.  In  fact,  the  children  of  Israel 
had  shared  only  too  deeply  in  the  sins  of  Egypt,  and 
accordingly  if  they  are  to  be  saved,  it  must  be  on  some 
other  ground  than  their  own  merits.  On  what  ground, 
then  ?  If  we  read  the  twelfth  chapter  we  shall  see  that 
pains  were  taken  to  show  them  that  it  must  be  on  the 
ground  of  an  Atonement^  provided  by  God  and  accepted 
by  themselves. 


Israel  Saved.  49 

"  Speak  ye  unto  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  saying, 
In  the  tenth  day  of  this  month  they  shall  take  to  them 
every  man  a  lamb  ....  Vv^ithout  blemish  ....  and 
shall  kill  it  ...  .  and  they  shall  take  of  the  blood  and 
strike  It  on  the  two  side  posts,  and  on  the  upper  door 
posts  of  the  houses ;  .  .  .  .  and  when  I  see  the  blood, 
I  will  pass  over  you,  and  the  plague  shall  not  be  upon 
you  to  destroy  you,  when  I  smite  the  land  of  Egypt " 
(ver.  3-13).  Here  we  have  a  sacrifice  appointed  by  God 
as  the  condition  of  their  salvation,  the  underlying  idea 
being  that  of  redemption,  as  we  find  by  reference  to 
Exodus  xlii.  13:  "  Ever}^  firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt 
redeem  with  a  lamb ;  and  if  thou  wilt  not  redeem  it, 
then  thou  shalt  break  his  neck:  and  all  the  firstborn  of 
man  among  thy  children  shalt  thou  redeem. ""'^ 

The  associations  here,  which  at  first  seem  unnatural, 
are  quite  suggestive.  The  ass  was  an  unclean  animal, 
and  therefore  unfit  to  be  offered  In  sacrifice  to  the  Lord. 
So  it  must  be  redeemed  by  offering  a  lamb,  a  clean  ani- 
mal, in  Its  place.  Such  was  the  mode  of  redemption, 
the  clean  for  the  unclean  —  failing  which,  the  animal's 
neck  was  to  be  broken.  And  then  immediately  follow- 
ing, "  all  the  firstborn  of  man  shalt  thou  redeem." 

When  the  lamb  was  offered,  then  it  expressed  the 


*  It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  firstborn  represented 
the  family,  so  that  judgment  of  the  firstborn  stood  for  judgment 
upon  all,  and  the  redemption  of  the  firstborn  stood  for  the  re- 
demption of  all ;  and  further,  inasmuch  as  Israel  was  the  first- 
born among  nations,  the  redemption  of  Israel  represented  the 
redemption  of  all  nations,  which  was  to  be  brought  about  in  the 
fulness  of  the  time. 


50  The  Mosaic  Era. 

idea  that  the  offerer  deserved  himself  to  die,  but  that 
he  was  redeemed  from  the  death  which  was  his  due  by 
the  substitution  of  the  lamb.  Does  not  this  throw  some 
light  on  what  at  first  seemed  an  unreasonable  and  unac- 
countable regulation  ? 

Observe  further,  that  no  one  could  present  the  pre- 
scribed offering,  sincerely,  without  penitential  feelings 
in  his  heart.  It  amounted  to  a  confession  of  sin  and 
unworthiness.  And  besides  penitence,  faith  also  Vv^as 
involved,  together  with  the  obedience  which  always  fol- 
lows true  faith.  The  children  of  Israel  "  bowed  the 
head  and  worshipped,''  and  "  went  away,  and  did  as  the 
Lord  had  commanded  "  (ver.  27,  28).  It  was  indeed  a 
searching  trial  of  their  faith.  There  was  abundant  room 
for  scepticism.  '^  How  can  it  do  any  good,"  one  might 
say,  "  to  kill  a  lamb  and  sprinkle  its  blood  on  the 
door  ?  "  And  another  might  say,  "  Where  is  the  neces- 
sity for  any  such  performance  ?  Is  not  Pharaoh  willing 
to  let  us  go  ?  Is  not  his  power  effectually  broken  by 
the  plagues  ?  Let  us  march  out  ourselves,  and  never 
mind  the  killing  of  the  lamb." 

If  the  thing  had  happened  in  these  days  of  fashion- 
able scepticism,  this  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  the 
way  in  which  large  numbers  would  have  responded  to 
the  Divine  directions.  The  wise  ones  would  have  scoffed 
at  the  others  as  ignorant  and  superstitious  people,  who 
had  not  sense  enough  to  see  that  it  was  honest  and 
good  lives,  and  not  the  sacrifice  of  a  lamb,  that  would 
commend  them  to  God.  And  the  consequence  would 
have  been  that  all  these  exceedingly  rational  people 
would  have  had    a  visit  from  the  destroying  angel  on 


Israel  Saved.  51 

that  terrible  night.  As  it  was,  the  children  of  Israel 
gave  no  harbour  to  such  sceptical  questionings  ;  they 
believed,  obeyed,  and  were  saved. 

Possibly,  some  of  them  were  not  quite  free  from 
superstition  in  the  observance  of  the  rite.  They  may 
have  imagined  that  there  was  some  magical  virtue  in  the 
blood  of  the  lamb ;  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  some  of 
them  might  have  added  certain  Egyptian  incantations 
or ''  enchantments  "  to  make  sure  work  of  it.  Very  foolish, 
no  doubt ;  but  not  necessarily  fatal.  If  they  did  what 
they  were  commanded,  they  were  safe,  even  though  they 
may  have  done  many  other  things  that  were  quite  un- 
necessary. And  even  so  it  no  doubt  v/ill  be  in  the  case 
of  multitudes  of  our  Ritualistic  and  Romanist  brethren, 
who  really  believe  that  the  Lord  Jesus  died  for  their 
sins,  and  trust  in  His  atoning  blood,  and  faithfully  try  to 
follow  His  steps  by  leading  good,  devout,  and  true  lives. 
They  may  go  through  performances  which  are  worse 
than  useless.  They  may  pray  to  the  Virgin  Mary  and 
to  all  the  saints,  and  do  many  other  vain  and  foolish 
things ;  and  though  all  this  is  much  to  be  deplored,  who 
will  deny  that  the  Lord  accepts  them  ?  Far,  far  better, 
be  in  the  position  of  the  most  superstitious  ritualist,  who 
really  tries  to  know  and  do  the  Lord's  will,  than  of  the 
cold  conceited  sceptic,  who  doubts  everything  and  does 
nothing ! 

But  while  there  seems  to  be  no  place  among  the  chil- 
dren for  the  cold  conceited  sceptic,  there  is  room  enough 
for  the  honest  doubter  whose  heart  is  in  the  right  place. 
It  is  altogether  likely  that  there  would  be  many  of  the 
children  of  Israel  who  were  perplexed  by  the  directions 


52  The  Mosaic  Era. 

given  them  that  day.  If  the  way  of  deliverance  had 
been  one  which  an  intelligent  man  could  see  through — 
if  they  could  only  have  understood  it  and  comprehended 
how  it  was  calculated  to  accomplish  the  end  in  view,  it 
v/ould  have  been  so  satisfactory.  But  being  unable  to 
see  through  it,  they  have  grave  doubts  about  the  whole 
thing.  Nevertheless,  as  obedient  children,  not  waiting 
to  understand  it  all,  but  willing  to  leave  it  in  the  dark 
till  God  Himself  will  cast  light  upon  it,  they  do  as  they 
are  commanded,  kill  the  lamb  and  sprinkle  the  blood. 
The  faith  of  such  as  these,  though  weak  and  clouded 
over  with  dark  doubts,  was  yet  sufficient  to  lead  them  to 
obey  the  word  of  the  Lord.     And  that  was  enough. 

We  have  seen  that  the  idea  of  redemption  underlies 
the  sacrifice,  and  that  the  bringing  of  it  implied  peni- 
tence, faith,  and  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  offerer ; 
and  so  far  we  can  discern  some  reason  in  what  at  first 
appears  unreasonable.  But  there  was  much  more  in  it 
than  this,  as  was  manifest  when  at  last  the  full  light  of 
the  New  Testament  v/as  cast  back  upon  it.  There  was 
a  typical  prophecy  in  it,  pointing  forward  to  something 
far  better,  away  in  the  dim  future,  the  real  atonement, 
of  which  it  was  a  mere  shadow.  In  this  paschal  lamb, 
indeed,  we  have  the  chief  Old  Testament  type  of  Christ, 
the  divinely  appointed  sacrifice.  Again  and  again  in  this 
Book  of  Exodus,  xxili.  i8  for  example,  this  paschal  sac- 
rifice is  spoken  of  as  the  sacrifice  of  God  (**37)/ sacrifice  "), 
which  is  fully  explained,  when  John  the  Baptist,  point- 
ing to  the  approaching  Saviour,  says,  "  Behold  tJic  Lamb 
of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  The 
lamb  of  the  Passover  was  really  nothing  In  itself.      It 


Israel  Saved.  53 

was  the  occasion  of  the  development  of  suitable  feelingb^ 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  the  means  of  testing  and 
proving  the  believing  and  obedient  ones  in  Israel.  But 
in  itself  it  was  but  a  picture,  a  picture  of  the  coming 
Saviour.  And  herein  we  see  why  a  lamb  was  chosen  : 
"  He  is  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep 
before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  He  openeth  not  His 
mouth"  (Isa.  liii.  7), — why  it  must  be  ^^witJioiit  blemish,'' 
to  typify  Him  who  was  "  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and 
separate  from  sinners "  (Heb.  vii.  26),  and  needed  no 
atonement  for  Himself, — why  it  was  kept  four  days  alive 
before  it  was  slain,  the  four  days,  "  a  day  for  a  year  " 
(Ezek.  iv.  6),  perhaps  representing  the  life  of  Christ  be- 
fore His  death  from  the  time  when  He  was  set  apart  by 
baptism  for  His  work, — above  all,  why  the  Lamb  must  be 
slain  (Rev.  xiii.  8) ;  and  it  is  especially  interesting  to  re- 
member that  "Christ  our  Passover  was  sacrificed  for  us" 
at  that  very  Passover  time,  probably  at  the  very  hour 
for  the  offering  of  the  paschal  sacrifice,  ''between  the 
two  evenings." 

There  are  other  matters  of  detail ;  but  our  plan  admits 
only  of  our  taking  up  the  broad  features.  As  for  the 
Passover  feast,  it  will  come  up  for  consideration  along 
with  the  other  feasts  when  we  reach  the  Book  of  Levit- 
icus. Meantime,  we  only  call  attention  to  the  pre-emi- 
nent place  it  held  in  the  Jewish  calendar,  as  indicated  by 
the  way  in  which  it  is  referred  to  in  the  passage  before 
us,  e.  £•.,  ''  it  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord's  Passover  "  (ver. 
27) ;  "  it  is  a  night  to  be  much  observed  unto  the  Lord 
for  bringing  them  out  from  the  land  of  Egypt :  this  is 
that  night  of  the  Lord  to  be  observed  of  all  the  children 


54  The  Mosaic  Era. 

of  Israel  in  their  generations "  (ver.  42).  Correspond- 
ingly in  the  New  Testament,  we  find  that  the  interest  of 
the  history  concentrates  in  that  night  of  the  Lord,  when 
''  Christ  our  Passover  was  sacrificed  for  us."  Much  is 
said  of  His  wonderful  life,  but  still  more  of  His  aton- 
ing death.  The  same  prominence  is  given  to  the  great 
sacrifice  in  the  apostolic  teaching,  which  is  characteris- 
tically summed  up  by  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
as  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 

There  are  still  difficulties  to  the  human  understanding 
in  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement.  But  it  is  important 
to  remember  that  it  is  not  necessary  in  order  to  our  sal- 
vation that  v/e  should  have  an  adequate  theory  of  the 
atonement,  any  more  than  it  was  for  the  children  of 
Israel  to  know  all  the  typical  relations  of  their  sacrifice 
in  order  to  be  saved  by  it.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
will  be  much  less  excuse  for  us,  if  we  stumble  at  '•  the 
offence  of  the  cross,"  than  there  would  have  been  for 
the  children  of  Israel  to  slight  the  sacrifice  of  the  Pass- 
over. We  have  history  and  experience  to  appeal  to, 
vvhich  they  had  not.  It  is  emphatically  ''  a  tried  stone  " 
that  God  has  laid  in  Zion  as  the  foundation  of  our  hopes 
for  eternity ;  and  as  we  think  of  generation  after  genera- 
tion of  storm-tossed  souls  that  have  found  a  needed 
refuge  there,  scepticism  may  well  be  silent,  as  faith  lifts 
up  her  voice  and  sings  : — 

"  Rock  of  ages  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  Thee." 

With  the  atonement  comes  the  Nciu  Life.  "  This 
month  shall  be  unto  you   the  beginning  of  months,  it 


Israel  Saved.  55 

shall  be  the  first  month  of  the  year  to  you  "  (vcr.  2).  The 
same  thought  is  still  more  strikingly  suggested  by  a 
comparison  of  the  42d  and  51st  verses.  After  the  night 
of  the  atoning  sacrifice,  comes  the  first  day  of  the  new 
life.  *'  This  month  shall  be  unto  you  the  beginning  of 
months."  What  does  this  mean  ?  It  means  that  all  that 
had  gone  betore  must  be  counted  out.  All  the  months, 
the  years  of  slavery,  let  them  be  forgotten.  It  is  the 
same  still  in  the  experience  of  the  saved.  The  years  we 
spent  before  we  turned  to  the  Lord,  are  not  worth  count- 
ing ;  the  best  that  can  happen  to  them  is  to  be  buried 
out  of  sight.  O  ye  who  have  not  yet  accepted  the  atone- 
ment and  entered  on  the  new  life  of  liberty  and  obedi- 
ence, you  are  wasting  your  time,  you  are  spending  strength 
for  nought,  you  are  living  years  that  shall  be  counted 
out  from  God's  Book  of  Life. 

The  new  life  is  nourished  on  the  lamb  that  has  been 
slain.  It  was  on  the  strength  of  that  food,  that  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  set  out  on  their  journey  to  the  Land  of 
Promise.  So  in  the  New  Testament,  "  I  am  the  Bread 
of  Life,"  says  Christ  the  Lamb  of  God,  "  he  that  eateth 
Me,  the  same  shall  live  by  Me." 

"  And  thus  shall  ye  eat  it ;  with  your  loins  girded,  your 
shoes  on  your  feet,  and  your  staff  in  your  hand  ;  and  ye 
shall  eat  it  in  haste  "  (ver.  1 1).  The  time  is  coming  for 
sitting  under  the  vine  and  fig  tree,  when  the  Land  of 
Promise  is  reached ;  but  while  yet  on  the  way,  though 
there  is  food  convenient,  there  is  no  time  for  continuous 
feasting.  We  may  not  yet  build  tabernacles  on  the  moun- 
tain, we  must  go  down  to  the  plain  and  work. 

Considerable  stress  is  laid  both  here  (ver.  35,  36)  and 


56    '  The  Mosaic  Era. 

in  other  places  (Gen.  xv.  14;  Exod.  iii.  21,  22)  on  tlie  fact 
that  in  going  they  took  not  a  little  of  the  wealth  of 
Egypt  with  them.  An  unfortunate  translation  has 
caused  much  unnecessary  difficulty  at  this  point.  I  refer 
to  the  use  of  the  words  "borrowed  "  and  "lent,"  as  if  it 
were  a  case  of  dishonesty.  The  former  word  is  used 
hundreds  of  times  in  its  ordinary  signification  of  "  asked  " 
or  "  demanded  "  ;  and  why  it  should  be  translated  "  bor- 
rowed "  here  is  a  mystery.  As  to  the  other  word,  it 
never  means  "  to  lend."  It  is  what  is  called  the  Hiphil 
or  causative  tense  of  the  same  word  "  to  ask  "  ;  literally, 
it  is  "  caused  them  to  ask,"  and  the  idea  is,  as  expressed 
fully  in  another  place,  that  the  Egyptians  not  only  urged 
them  to  go,  but  entreated  them  to  take  these  things  with 
them.  The  Egyptians  not  only  wanted  to  be  rid  of  their 
troublesome  guests,  but  wished  to  gain  favour  with  them, 
and  with  the  dread  Power  who  had  sent  such  terrible 
plagues ;  and  so  they  pressed  these  things  upon  them. 
Accordingly  the  children  of  Israel  went  out  with  a  large 
quantity  of  the  wealth  of  Egypt  in  a  portable  form. 
The  wickedness,  the  vanities,  the  follies  of  Egypt  must 
be  left  behind  ;  but  some  of  its  treasures  are  portable, 
and  quite  compatible  even  with  a  wilderness  journey. 

Notice  in  passing,  the  mixed  multitude  that  went 
along  with  them  from  Egypt  (ver.  38).  We  have  here 
one  of  those  illustrations,  of  which  there  are  so  many 
throughout  the  Scriptures,  of  the  universality  of  God's 
mercy.  Even  at  this  time,  of  comparative  exclu- 
siveness,  none  were  kept  out  who  wanted  to  come  in. 
Subsequent  events  proved  that  this  mixed  multitude 
was  no  desirable  addition  to  the  hosts  of  Israel,  but  no 


Israel  Saved.  57 

means  seem  to  have  been  taken  to  keep  any  of  them 
back.  Then,  as  now,  the  Lord  was  willing  to  accept  a 
mixed  multitude,  provided  only  they  are  united  in  desire 
and  determination  to  leave  Egypt  and  sin,  and  follow  on 
to  Canaan.  The  multitude  will  no  longer  be  "  mixed," 
when  they  have  reached  the  New  Jerusalem.  They  will 
be  thoroughly  homogeneous  then,  with  one  heart  and 
one  mind  and  one  song,  and  all  clothed  in  the  same 
"■  fine  linen,  white  and  clean,  which  is  the  righteousness 
of  the  Saints." 

And  even  now  there  is  a  certain  homogeneity  reached, 
by  the  change  which  has  passed  upon  all  who  together  have 
entered  on  the  new  life,  as  is  indicated  by  the  new  name 
given  to  them  all  in  common,  in  the  41st  verse.  ''And 
it  came  to  pass  at  the  end  of  the  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years,  even  the  selfsame  day  it  came  to  pass,  that  all  the 
hosts  of  the  Lord  went  out  from  the  land  of  Egypt." 
The  slaves  of  Egypt  before,  they  are  ''  the  hosts  of  the 
Lord  "  now. 

A  twofold  experience  marks  the  beginning  of  the  new 
life.  First,  a  new  and  blessed  consciousness  of  the  Di- 
vine presence  and  guidance.  "The  Lord  went  before 
them  by  day  in  a  pillar  of  a  cloud,  to  lead  them  by  the 
way ;  and  by  night  in  a  pillar  of  fire,  to  give  them  light ; 
to  go  by  day,  and  night :  He  took  not  away  the  pillar  of 
the  cloud  by  day,  nor  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night,  from  be- 
fore the  people"  (xiii.  21,  22).  We  may  not  even  enter 
on  the  wealth  of  meaning  here.  Enough  to  have  point- 
ed out  the  place  it  occupies  in  the  story  of  Israel's  sal- 
vation. 

The  other  experience  is  the  result  of  this,  and  is  re- 
s'' 


58  The  Mosaic  Era. 

corded  in  the  14th  chapter.  The  Lord  led  His  people 
in  such  a  way  that  they  were  confronted  once  more  with 
their  old  enemy  ;  and  under  such  circumstances  that 
there  seemed  no  way  of  escape.  But  the  Lord  Himself 
made  a  way.  "  Moses  said  unto  the  people,  Fear  ye 
not,  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord,  which 
He  will  show  you  to-day ;  for  the  Egyptians,  whom  ye 
have  seen  to-day,  ye  shall  see  them  again  no  more  forever" 
(ver.  13).  The  result  we  know.  The  power  of  the  old 
enemy  was  completely  broken.  Thus  too,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  life,  there  often  comes  a  testing 
time,  when  the  old  enemy,  out  of  whose  bondage  we 
seemed  to  have  been  delivered,  pursues  and  overtakes, 
and  tries  to  bring  us  into  his  power  again.  But  if  the 
Lord  be  with  us,  we  need  not  fear.  "  There  hath  no 
temptation  taken  you,  but  such  as  is  common  to  man : 
but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempt- 
ed above  that  ye  are  able,  but  will  with  the  temptation 
also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  bear 
it."  God  will  make  a  way  of  escape  as  He  did  for  His 
people  at  the  Red  Sea.  Only  "  be  strong  in  the  Lord, 
and  in  the  power  of  His  might."  For  it  is  written,  "  the 
Lord  shall  fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold  your  peace  " 
(ver.  14). 

^'  Fear  ye  not,  stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  the 
Lord."  And  as  you  continue  waiting  on  the  Lord,  you 
will  presently  hear  a  voice,  like  that  which  came  to  Moses 
of  old,  ''  Speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  go 
forward"  (ver.  15);  and  though  the  angry  sea  be  right 
in  front,  you  need  not  fear  to  go,  for  He  will  make  a 
way  for  you.     ^'  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  Thy  path  in  the 


Israel  Saved.  59 

mighty  waters,  and  Thy  footsteps  are  not  known,"  yet 
''  Thou  leddest  Thy  people  hke  a  flock  by  the  hand  of 
Moses  and  Aaron."  And  presently  we  shall  find  that 
the  power  of  our  old  enemy  is  completely  broken,  and 
we  are  safe. 

The  Exodus  is  now  complete,  Pharaoh  is  not  only 
subdued,  but  destroyed,  and  Israel  is  saved.  "  Thus  the 
Lord  saved  Israel  that  day"  (ver.  30),  and  on  the  further 
shore  they  sang  with  glad  and  grateful  hearts  the  first 
Song  of  Salvation  (chap,  xv.) 

It  may  be  well  now  to  gather  into  one  view  the  vari- 
ous stages  of  the  process  by  which  Israel  was  saved.  We 
shall  thus  have  a  most  useful  analysis  of  the  soul's  ex- 
perience in  its  Exodus  from  the  bondage  of  sin.  The 
question  is  sometimes  discussed  as  to  whether  conver- 
sion is  sudden  or  gradual ;  and  the  answer  must  neces- 
sarily turn  chiefly  on  a  definition  of  terms.  But  while 
in  a  certain  logical  sense  conversion  must  be  sudden,  in- 
asmuch as  it  means  turning  to  the  Lord,  and  surely 
there  must  be  a  point  of  time  when  a  man  first  turns 
from  his  sin  to  his  Saviour ;  yet  in  its  ordinary  accepta- 
tion, conversion  is  really  a  complex  experience,  having 
in  it  distinctly  marked  stages,  which  may  come  in  such 
rapid  succession  that  the  whole  process  may  be  accom- 
plished in  a  single  day,  or  a  single  hour,  but  which  may 
be  separated  from  each  other  by  intervals  of  some  length,, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  children  of  Israel.  The  clearly- 
marked  separation  of  the  different  stages  in  the  history 
of  Israel's  salvation  from  Egyptian  bondage  makes  it 
especially  valuable  for  the  purpose  of  that  analysis  which 
we  shall  now  endeavour  to  present. 


6o  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Looking  back  then  over  the  experience  of  the  people 
during  the  lengthened  history  of  the  Exodus,  we  dis- 
cover the  following  stages.  First,  we  found  them  "  sig/i- 
ing  and  crying^'  (ii.  23),  next  ^^  believing  and  zvorsJiipping'' 
(iv.  31),  though  the  believing  of  this  stage  is  shown 
by  the  subsequent  history  to  be  very  different,  not  in 
kind,  but  in  degree,  from  the  believing  which  is  spoken 
of  in  the  last  verse  of  the  14th  chapter,  where  the  origi- 
nally feeble  spark  of  faith  had  been  developed  into  full  as- 
surance. Subsequently  PharaoJi  s  grasp  is  loosened  by 
the  successive  shocks  of  the  plagues  recorded  in  chapters 
v.-xi. ;  next  v/e  see  them  sJieltered  by  the  blood  of  the 
lamb  (xii.  1-30) ;  thereafter  setting  out  to  Canaan  (31-5 1) ; 
then,  after  being  ^'  baptized  7tnto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in 
the  sea  "  (xiv.),  we  find  them  singing  on  the  farther  shore 
(xv.)  Seven  stages:  from  the  ''sighing  and  ciying"  at 
the  beginning  to  the  singing  for  joy  at  the  end.  "  Blessed 
are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted." 

"Thus  the  Lord  saved  Israel";  and  thus  He 
v/ill  save  you,  who  are  still  in  bondage.  Only  ciy  to  the 
Lord,  and  continue  waiting  on  Him,  and  in  course  of 
time — it  may  be  much  shorter  than  in  the  case  of  Israel, 
there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  this  very  day, 
this  very  hour — He  will  fill  your. heart  with  heavenly 
music,  and  your  tongue  with  joyful  praise.  And  you 
will  join  the  long  ranks  of  those  who  can  take  up  the 
words  of  the  Psalmist,  and  say,  ''  I  waited  patiently  for 
the  Lord,  and  He  inclined  unto  me  and  heard  my  cry; 
He  brought  me  up  also  out  of  a  horrible  pit,  out  of  the 
miry  clay,  and  set  my  feet  upon  a  rock  and  established 
my  goings ;  and  He  put  a  new  song  in  my  mouth,  even 
praise  unto  our  God." 


THE    WILDERNESS. 

EXODUS   XV.-XVIII. 

THE  history  of  Israel  In  the  wilderness  really  covers 
the  space  of  forty  years,  and  fills  all  that  remains 
of  the  five  books  of  Moses.  But  it  so  happens  that  in 
the  experience  of  the  first  two  months  before  Sinai  was 
reached,  there  is  so  much  varied  instruction,  that  by  the 
study  of  these  chapters  alone  we  may  obtain  a  quite 
comprehensive  view  of  the  lessons  of  the  wilderness. 
And  here  again  we  have  a  series  of  seven.*  In  our  last 
lecture  we  found  seven  stages  in  the  process  by  which 
Israel  was  saved,  ending  in  the  song  which  they  sung  on 
the  further  shore  of  the  Red  Sea.  The  last  of  that 
series  is  the  first  of  the  next.  Where  Exodus  experi- 
ence ends,  Wilderness  experience  begins. 

I.  Our  plan  will  not  allow  us  to  dwell  upon  tJic  Song^ 
however  tempting  as  a  historical  memorial,  as  a  literary 
treasure,  and  as  a  repository  of  spiritual  truth.  We 
shall  only  call  attention  to  its  most  characteristic  and 
outstanding  feature,  the  entire  absence  of  self-glorifica- 


*  Three  stages,  mentioned  in  Numbers  xxxiii.  where  the  itinerary 
is  given,  viz.,  the  camp  by  the  Red  Sea  (ver.  lo),  Uophkah  and 
Alush  (ver.  12,  13),  are  omitted  in  the  Exodus  record,  probably 
because  nothing  worthy  of  note  happened  at  these  places. 

(5i) 


62  The  Mosaic  Era. 

tion  or  mere  national  exultation.  From  the  beginning 
to  the  end  it  celebrates  the  praises  of  Jehovah,  the  Re- 
deemer of  Israel.  In  the  British  Museum  there  is  an 
ancient  papyrus  with  a  copy  of  the  celebrated  poem  of 
Pentaur,  ^'  the  Homer  of  Egypt,"  who  flourished  in 
the  reign  of  Rameses  II.,  and  was  therefore  a  contem- 
porary of  Moses.  The  poem  commemorates  the  great 
victory  of  Rameses  over  the  Khita.  It  is  exceedingly 
interesting  to  compare  the  manner  in  which  the  Egyptian 
poet  celebrates  the  Egyptian  victory  over  the  Semitic 
Khita,  with  that  in  which  the  Hebrew  poet  celebrates 
the  victory  of  his  branch  of  the  Semites  over  the  hosts 
of  Pharaoh.  There  is  considerable  similarity  in  style 
between  the  one  poem  and  the  other,  just  enough  to 
indicate  that  they  belong  to  the  same  period  ;  but,  how 
different  in  substance.  The  one  is  full  of  man  and  his 
praises  ;  the  other  makes  nothing  of  man  (not  even 
Moses  himself  is  once  mentioned  in  it)  and  everything 
of  God.  "Sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  HE  hath  triumphed 
gloriously :  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  He  thrown  into 
the  sea.  The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  He  is 
become  my  salvation  ;  He  is  my  God,  and  I  will  pre- 
pare Him  a  habitation  ;  my  father's  God,  and  I  will 
exalt  Him." 

Such  is  the  strain  of  the  Hebrew  epic.  Whereas  in 
the  Egyptian  epic  it  is  the  praises  of  Pharaoh  that  are 
sung  throughout ;  and  Avhen  the  god  of  Egypt  is  referred 
to,  it  is  in  some  such  fashion  as  this:  "  I  (Pharaoh)  have 
built  for  thee  propylaea  and  wonderful  works  of  stone,  I 
have  raised  to  thee  masts  for  all  times,  I  have  conveyed, 
the  obelisks  for  thee  from  the  island  of  Elephantine.     It 


The  Wilderness.  63 

was  I  who  had  brought  for  thee  the  everlasting  stone, 
who  caused  the  ships  to  go  for  thee  on  the  sea,  to  bring 
thee  the  productions  of  foreign  nations.  Where  has  it 
been  told  that  such  a  thing  was  done  at  any  other  time? 
Let  him  be  put  to  shame  who  rejects  thy  commands,  but 
good  be  to  him  who  acknowledges  thee,  O  Amon  !  "  * 
Worldly  religiousness  makes  much  of  what  man  will  do 
for  God  ;  the  true  religion  makes  everything  of  what 
God  does  for  man.  ''  He  that  glorieth,  let  him  glory  in 
the  Lord."  There  is  no  better  sign  of  genuine  conver- 
sion, of  having  crossed  the  Red  Sea  and  left  Egypt  be- 
hind, than  to  cease  speaking  and  even  thinking  of  self, 
and  begin  thinking  ever  and  speaking  much  of  the  good- 
ness and  glory  of  the  Lord. 

IL  It  was  a  glorious  song;  but  alas  !  it  did  not  last. 
In  three  days  its  jubilant  notes  have  died  away,  and 
miserable  murmurings  have  taken  its  place,  for  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  are  at  Marah  now  (ver.  22-26),  smarting 
under  the  disappointment  at  the  bitter  taste  of  the 
waters  there.  In  Deuteronomy  viii.  2,  3,  v/e  get  an  in- 
sight into  the  Divine  purpose  in  this  and  similar  deal- 
ings with  His  people  :  "  Thou  shalt  remember  all  the 
way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee  these  forty  years 
in  the  wilderness,  to  humble  thee,  and  to  prove  thee,  to 
know  luhat  zvas  in  thine  hearty  whether  thou  wouldest 
keep  His  commandments,  or  no.  And  He  humbled 
thee,  and  suffered  thee  to  hunger  and  fed  thee  with 
manna  ....  that  He  might  make  thee  know  that  man 
doth  not  live  by  bread  only,  but  by  every  word  that 


*  "  Brugsch,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  56. 


64  The  Mosaic  Era. 

proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  doth  man 
live." 

Briefly,  there  were  two  great  objects  which  God  had 
in  view ;  first  to  show  the  people  themselves,  and  next 
to  show  them  Himself.  Neither  of  these  lessons  can  be 
taught  at  a  sitting.  It  is  only  by  degrees  that  we  learn 
how  poor  and  weak  and  helpless  we  are  ;  and  how  great 
and  loving  and  helpful  God  is  ;  and  so  we  need  not 
wonder  that,  with  a  people  so  slow  to  learn,  the  lesson 
should  extend  over  forty  years.  But  though  it  takes  a 
long  time  to  teach  it  practically,  we  can  see  it  very 
readily  in  a  picture  ;  and  it  is  painted  there  in  characters 
quite  large  and  striking,  on  this  Marah  page  of  Israel's 
history.  What  had  become  of  that  splendid  faith  in 
God  which  found  expression  in  the  Red  Sea  song?  Why 
did  it  never  occur  to  these  people  that  He  who  had 
opened  a  way  through  the  sea,  could  very  easily  provide 
for  them  in  the  desert  ?  Probably  if  the  combination 
of  circumstances  had  been  exactly  the  same  as  before, 
their  hearts  would  not  have  failed  them.  But  when  are 
combinations  of  circumstances  exactly  the  same  ?  And 
when  the  new  combination  arises,  the  old  faith  is  apt  to 
fail. 

The  truth  is,  that  while  faith  is  very  easy  after  a  great 
deliverance,  it  is  exceeding  hard  before  it.  It  is  veiy 
easy  to  sing  a  song  of  joy  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the 
Red  Sea.  On  the  western  shore  it  was  different,  and 
three  days  after,  it  will  be  as  difficult  as  ever  on  the 
shore  of  Marah.  Does  not  this  show  what  was  in 
Israel's  heart  :  and  docs  it  not  also  show  what  is  in 
ours  ?    When  our  hearts  are  filled  with  gratitude  to  God 


The  Wilderness.  05 

at  a  time  when  there  is  nothing  to  try  us,  let  us  not 
build  too  much  upon  it  as  an  evidence  of  Christian 
character,  for  it  may  not  be  so  certain  after  all  whether 
it  is  God  or  self  we  are  in  love  with.  The  test  will  be 
when  sorrow  comes,  when  you  are  thirsty,  and,  stooping 
down  to  drink,  you  find  the  waters  bitter — ^then,  if  you 
can  still  praise  God,  and  trust  His  love  and  power,  you 
prove  yourself  a  disciple  indeed.  But  with  many,  the 
time  of  trial  is  a  time  of  humiliating  disclosures  of  weak- 
ness and  faithlessness,  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  Israel  so 
lately  triumphant,  but  whose  very  first  trouble  was  too 
much  for  them. 

But  God  does  not  leave  His  people  thus.  Having 
taught  them  the  sad  lesson  of  what  they  are,  He  pres- 
ently comforts  them  by  showing  them  what  He  is.  As 
soon  as  they  cried  to  Him,  He  found  (how  easily)  a  way 
to  make  the  bitter  waters  sweet,  and  thus  made  Himself 
known  as  Jehovah  the  Healer  (ver.  26).  He  had  already 
fully  revealed  Himself  as  Jehovah  the  Saviour,  their 
great  Deliverer  from  Egyptian  bondage.  His  work  as 
the  healer  of  His  people  follows  next  in  order.  "  Bless 
Jehovah,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  His  benefits: 
who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities ;  who  healeth  all  thy 
diseases." 

He  acts  the  part  of  the  Physician,  first  in  sending  the 
affliction,  in  leading  His  people  to  Marah.  It  is  the  sur- 
gery by  which  the  deep  sore  is  exposed.  And  then, 
more  especially,  in  healing  the  bitter  waters  and  the  dis- 
appointed hearts. 

The  Marah  "  statute  and  ordinance  "  deserves  atten- 
tion as  we  pass  (ver.  26).     It  is  the  first  trace  of  Law  in 


66  The  Mosaic  Era. 

God's  dealing  v/ith  His  people.  Up  to  this  time  it  has 
been  all  Gospel.  They  have  had  simply  to  "  stand  still, 
and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord."  Not  a  word  has 
been  said  to  them  about  "  doing  that  which  is  right  in 
His  sight,"  and  ''keeping  His  statutes,"  till  now.  Thus 
we  find  that  the  order  of  the  New  Testament  is  also  the 
order  of  the  Old.  It  is  not,  "  obey  and  be  saved  "  ;  but 
''be  saved  and  obey."  It  is  not,  "  obey  in  order  that 
you  may  be  saved,"  but  "  obey  because  you  have 
been  saved."  There  had  been  certain  acts  of  obedience,, 
of  course ;  but  these  were  all  in  the  way  of  accepting  a 
salvation  already  provided,  as  for  instance  when  they 
killed  the  lamb  and  sprinkled  the  blood,  which  was  sim- 
ply their  acceptance  of  the  atonement  provided  by  the 
Lord  ;  or  again,  when  at  the  word  of  the  Lord  they 
walked  through  the  sea;  but  up  till  this  time  there  is  not 
a  single  intimation  of  good  deeds  as  a  condition  of  bless- 
ing. God  did  not  give  them  His  law  in  Egypt  and  tell 
them  if  they  kept  it  He  would  bring  them  out.  No : 
He  first  brings  them  out,  and  then  says,  "  Keep  My 
lav\\" 

The  promise  which  is  appended  is  very  precious :  "  If 
thou  wilt  diligently  hearken,  etc.,  I  vv^ill  put  none  of  these 
diseases  upon  thee  which  I  have  brought  upon  the 
Egyptians :  for  I  am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee."  What 
kind  of  diseases  had  he  brought  on  the  Egyptians? 
Plagues.  The  Lord  has  no  plagues  for  His  people  who 
walk  in  His  ways.  Afflictions  He  has — they  are  part  of 
the  covenant  of  His  grace  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  30-33).  But 
plagues  He  has  none.  Calamities,  none.  "  There  shall 
no    evil   befall    him."     "All  things  work   together   for 


The  Wilderness.  6/ 

good  to  them  that  love  God."  "  All  the  paths  of  the 
Lord  are  mercy  and  truth  to  them  that  keep  His  cove- 
nant and  His  testimonies."  Whatever  He  does  is  in  the 
way  of  healing,  never  of  plague :  "  I  will  put  none  of 
these  diseases  upon  thee,  which  I  have  brought  upon  the 
Egyptians ;  for  I  am  Jehovah  f/iat  hcalcth  thcd' 

HI.  A  short  distance  from  Marah  was  Ellni,  with  its 
shade,  its  refreshment,  its  rest ;  its  twelve  wells  of  waters, 
and  threescore  and  ten  palm  trees.  Is  there  ever  a 
Marah  without  an  Elim  near  it,  if  only  we  follow  on  in 
the  way  the  Lord  marks  out  for  us  through  the  wilder- 
ness ?  The  notice  of  Elim  occupies  less  than  four  lines, 
while  there  are  as  many  verses  in  the  record  of  Marah, 
and  a  whole  chapter  following  about  the  Wilderness  of 
Sin  ;  and  we  are  apt  to  draw  the  hasty  inference  that  the 
bitter  experiences  were  the  rule,  and  the  delightful  ones 
the  exception.  And  so  it  often  seems  in  the  chequered 
life  of  the  tried  disciple  of  the  Lord.  But  look  again. 
The  bitter  time  at  Marah  was  quite  short,  though  it  oc- 
cupies a  great  deal  of  space  in  the  history.  These  four 
verses  tell  the  story  probably  of  as  many  hours  or  less. 
But  the  four  lines  about  Elim  are  the  story  of  three 
weeks,  during  which  ''  they  encamped  there  by  the 
waters." 

We  are  very  apt  to  put  the  varied  scene  of  our  ex- 
perience in  false  perspective.  We  put  our  troubles  in 
the  foreground  of  the  picture  of  life  which  an  unhealthy 
imagination  paints.  This  Marah  will  occupy  feet  in  the 
front,  while  that  Elim  has  only  inches  in  the  rear ;  and 
we  forget  that  the  inches  of  Elim  represent  miles,  while 
the   delineation  of   Marah   is   larger  than   life.      When 


68  The  Mosaic  Era. 

troubles  come,  the  time  seems  long ;  when  troubles  have 
gone,  the  time  seems  short ;  and  so,  many  are  apt  to 
think  that  they  are  hardly  dealt  with,  whereas  if  they 
would  look  more  carefully  into  the  Lord's  dealings  with 
them,  they  might  find  that  they  have  far  more  to  be 
thankful  for  than  to  grieve  over.  Hours  at  Marah  are 
followed  by  weeks  at  Elim. 

IV.  Another  trial  follows.  The  Lord  "suffered  them 
to  hunger  "  in  the  Wilderness  of  Sin.  Again  the  people 
murmur  and  complain  ;  and  again  the  Lord  provides  for 
them  abundantly  (chap,  xvi.)  The  miracle  of  the  manna 
here  demands  our  attention.  That  it  was  a  miracle  is 
very  obvious.  It  has  indeed  a  natural  basis,  as  the 
plagues  of  Egypt  had ;  for  there  is  a  natural  product  of 
the  wilderness  which  answers,  so  far  as  appearance  goes, 
to  the  description  here  given  of  the  manna.  But  when 
we  consider,  among  other  things,  this,  that  the  entire 
production  of  the  whole  year  would  not  have  served  the 
children  of  Israel  for  a  single  day,  we  see  how  absurd  it 
is  to  try  to  explain  the  miracle  away  as  a  mere  natural 
phenomenon. 

But  w^hile  the  manna  of  the  wilderness  cannot  explain 
the  miracle,  it  undoubtedly  has  some  connection  with  it ; 
the  same  kind  of  connection  which  there  was  between 
the  few  small  loaves  which  the  Saviour  blessed,  and  the 
large  supply  with  which  He  fed  the  thousands  on  the 
hillside  once  and  again.  When  these  hungry  multitudes 
were  before  Him,  He  did  not  introduce  a  fresh  creation, 
and  supply  them  with  food,  the  like  of  which  they  had 
never  seen  before.  He  began  by  asking  :  "  How  many 
loaves  have  ye?"     And  then,   taking  what   there  was 


The  Wilderness.  69 

readiest  to  hand,  He  made  use  of  it  to  supply  the  peo- 
ple's wants.  He  followed  the  same  course  in  the  desert. 
And  by  doing  His  wonders  thus,  in  the  line  of  nature's 
more  ordinary  operations,  He  helped  them  and  us  to 
understand  and  realize  that  the  most  ordinary  operations 
of  nature  are  truly  Divine,  and  have  the  element  of 
miracle  in  them  for  those  who  have  eyes  to  see,  to  sec 
beyond  those  second  causes  to  the  Great  First  Cause, 
'^  through  nature  up  to  nature's  God."  To  use  the  illus- 
tration of  Dr.  Hamilton,  these  miracles  are  the  true 
^'  autograph  of  the  Creator,"  only  "  written  in  a  larger 
type,"  that  even  shortsighted  eyes  may  recognise  the 
signature. 

The  great  lesson  of  the  manna  is  that  already  referred 
to  in  a  passage  quoted  from  Deuteronomy:  ''  Man  doth 
not  live  by  bread  only,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God."  How  beautifully 
this  is  illustrated  in  the  history  of  our  Saviour's  tempta- 
tion we  all  know. 

But  there  are  some  more  specific  lessons  which  are 
suggested  by  our  Lord's  own  teaching  in  relation  to  the 
miracle  of  the  manna,  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  John  :  ^'  I 
am  that  Bread  of  life.     Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in 

the  wilderness  and  are  dead I  am  the  living  Bread 

that  came  down  from  heaven"  (ver.  48-51).  Again  in 
Rev.  ii.  17,  we  have  the  promise:  ''To  him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden  manna."  Thus 
we  learn,  on  the  highest  authority,  to  take  the  manna  of 
the  wilderness  as  a  symbol  of  the  spiritual  nourishment 
which  our  souls  need,  and  which  is  furnished  in  Christ 
the  Lord.     Christ  and  His  word  is  the  food  of  the  soul  ; 


70  The  Mosaic  Era. 

and  when  we  carry  this  thought  with  us,  we  find  many 
lessons  in  the  chapter  before  us,  such  as  these :  our 
urgent  need  of  this  food — its  coming  from  heaven  as  a 
gift — a  free  gift,  free  as  the  air  we  breathe — in  abundance 
— quite  accessible^  all  round  the  tents  (Rom.  x.  6-9) — yet 
needing  to  be  gathered  with  diligence — gathered  daily — 
gathered  early,  in  the  morning  hours,  ere  yet  the  heat 
and  the  bustle  of  the  day  has  begun — and  used  as  soon 
as  gathered,  not  laid  up  in  the  memory  as  a  store-house, 
but  worked  into  the  substance  of  the  life  at  once.  Note 
also  the  evidence  from  the  story  of  the  manna,  that  the 
institution  of  the  Sabbath  is  older  than  the  Decalogue 
— evidence  so  plain  that  in  order  to  evade  it,  those  who 
make  it  a  mere  Jewish  ordinance  must  sumimon  to  their 
aid  an  ingenuity  which  could  explain  away  anything. 

V.  The  next  stage  is  Rephidim ;  and  here  a  new  trial 
awaits  the  people  (xvii.  1-7).  There  was  no  water  to 
drink.  It  is  the  same  story  over  again,  of  the  people's 
murmurs  and  the  Lord's  mercy,  and  a  repetition  of  the 
same  sad  lesson  about  themselves  and  the  same  glad 
lesson  about  God.  We  shall  not,  therefore,  dwell  on  the 
general  teaching  of  the  passage,  but  rather  look  at  it  in 
the  light  which  the  New  Testament  throws  back  upon 
it.  In  I  Corinthians  x.  2-4,  the  Apostle  Paul,  speaking 
of  the  fathers  to  Vv^hom  all  these  things  happened  as 
types  (ver.  11)  for  our  instruction,  says  that  they  *'  were 
all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea ;  and 
did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat ;  and  did  all  drink 
the  same  spiritual  drink:  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual 
Rock  that  followed  them:  and  that  Rock  was  Christ." 
In  this  passage  the  sacramental  idea  is  quite  apparent. 


The  Wilderness.  71 

As  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  is  associated  in  the 
apostle's  mind  with  Christian  baptism,  so  the  experience 
of  the  people  in  the  wilderness  of  Sin  and  at  Rephidim 
suggests  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  rather  the  spiritual  nour- 
ishment and  refreshment  of  which  it  was  the  sacra- 
mental sign.  And  just  as  Christ  had  associated  Himself 
with  the  manna,  the  apostle  associates  Him  with  the 
water  at  Rephidim:  "that  Rock  was  Christ."  It  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  he  does  not  say  the  water  was 
Christ.  So,  too,  Christ  Himself,  though  He  said,  ''I  am 
the  Bread  of  life,"  never  said*,  "  I  am  the  Water  of  life." 
Again  and  again  He  spoke  of  giving,  but  never  of  being, 
the  water  of  life.  What  is  the  reason  of  this  ?  Is  it 
not  that  the  water  Is  the  familiar  symbol  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  ?  (See  as  an  illustration  of  this,  Isaiah  xliv.  3,  for 
the  Old  Testament,  and  John  vii.  37-39,  for  the  New). 
The  Rock  was  Christ,  from  whom,  after  He  had  been 
smitten  on  Calvary,  there  flowed  the  full  and  blessed 
Pentecostal ,  stream,  that  river  of  salvation  which  has 
ever  since  followed  the  Church  in  her  journey  through 
the  wilderness. 

VI.  The  experience  at  Rephidim  is  followed  by  the 
contest  with  Amalek  (ver.  8-16).  If  the  children  of  Israel 
thought,  as  many  no  doubt  would,  that  after  Pharaoh 
was  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea,  they  had  no  other  enemy 
to  encounter,  they  were  greatly  mistaken.  There  were 
also  foes  of  the  wilderness  to  meet.  Though  we  maybe 
delivered  from  the  bondage  of  sin,  it  does  not  follow  that 
our  warfare  is  at  an  end.  Rather  does  it  now  properly 
begin.  As  long  as  sin  reigns  there  is  no  warfare ;  and 
as  for  the  overthrow  of  its  power  in  our  hearts,  it  is 


72  The  Mosaic  Era. 

God's  work  rather  than  ours.  It  is  ours  then  to  stand 
still  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.  "  The  Lord  shall 
fight  for  you,  and  ye  shall  hold  your  peace."  But  as 
soon  as  the  bondage  of  sin  is  broken,  then  begins  the 
struggle  against  the  evil  that  still  dwells,  though  it  no 
longer  reigns,  in  the  heart.  This  is  that  Amalek  of  the 
wilderness  journey.  And  here  the  command  is  no  longer 
as  before,  to  "  stand  still  and  see,"  but,  '^  Choose  us  out 
men,  and  go  out,  fight  with  Amalek"  (ver.  9).  Yet  Di- 
vine grace  is  as  needful  as  ever.  While  the  picked  men 
went  down  into  the  plain  to  fight,  the  best  men  went  up 
to  the  top  of  the  hill  to  pray  (ver.  10). 

Thus,  as  ever,  the  Old  Testament  has  the  same  doc- 
trine as  the  New  :  ''  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  to 
will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure."  The  first  part 
corresponds  to  the  fighting  on  the  plain ;  the  second  to 
the  praying  on  the  hill-top.  Working  there  must  be — 
not  to  provide  or  procure  salvation,  which  is  done  al- 
ready, done  fully  and  thoroughly,  and  once  for  all,  by 
the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  the  sacrificial  Lamb — not 
working  for  salvation,  but  working  out  salvation  ;  a  very 
different  thing.  But  there  must  be  praying  as  well. 
And  it  would  appear  from  the  contest  with  Amalek  that 
the  praying  v/as  of  even  more  consequence  than  the 
fighting.  "  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  held  up 
his  hand,  that  Israel  prevailed:  and  when  he  let  down 
his  hand,  Amalek  prevailed."  It  is  when  the  praying 
flags  that  the  fighting  fails. 

Wherefore,  brethren,  "  be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in 
the  power  of  His  might."     "  For  we  wrestle  not  against 


The  Wilderness.  73 

flesh  and  blood,  but  against  principalities,  against  powers, 
against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  against 
spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places."  (See  the  whole 
passage,  Ephesians  vi.  10-18).  How  appropriate  the  al- 
tar motto  which  remains  as  a  memorial  of  the  conflict, 
Jehovah-nissi  (ver.  15),  /.  r.,  Jehovah  my  Banner;  and 
how  sure  the  guarantee,  that,  protracted  as  the  conflict 
must  be,  repeated  generation  after  generation  (ver.  16), 
till  the  days  of  the  Church  militant  are  over,  the  issue 
will  be  the  annihilation  of  the  enemy  (ver.  14),  and  the 
eternal  triumph  of  the  Lord's  redeemed  ones. 

VII.  One  scene  more  in  the  wilderness  before  the 
grand  drama  of  Sinai.  It  is  tJic  meeting  witJi  Jethro  the 
Kenite  (chap,  xviii.)  There  are  friends  as  well  as  foes 
in  the  desert. 

A  veil  is  drawn  over  the  affecting  domestic  scene, 
when  Moses  meets  again  his  wife  and  children,  who  had 
spent  the  time  in  Midian  while  he  had  been  doing  the 
Lord's  work  in  Egypt  and  by  the  way  of  the  wilderness. 
But  several  particulars  are  given  of  the  meeting  with 
Jethro,  which  incidentally  throw  a  beautiful  Hght  on 
the  character  of  Moses,  and  give  not  a  little  instruction 
as  to  the  way  in  which  we  should  conduct  ourselves 
tovv'ards  those  who,  though  not  against  us  as  Amalek 
was,  are  not  with  us,  as  Jethro  was  not  with  Israel. 
Observe  the  humility  and  politeness  of  Moses  (ver.  7) ; 
but  above  all  his  charity.  ''And  Jethro  (ver.  12)  took  a 
burnt-offering  and  sacrifices  for  God  :  and  Aaron  came, 
and  all  the  elders  of  Israel,  to  eat  bread  with  Moses' 
father-in-law  before  God."  No  close  communion  there. 
Had  Moses  been  of  the  same  spirit  as  many  of  our 
4 


74  The  Mosaic  Era. 

modem  ecclesiastics  he  would  have  said :  ^'  I  am  per- 
fectly willing  to  treat  you  politely  and  kindly  when  I 
meet  you  simply  as  a  friend,  but  I  cannot  join  hands 
Avith  you  at  the  altar/'  But  Moses  and  Aaron  were 
men  of  a  different  spirit.     And  was  it  not  a  better  one  ? 

Later  on  in  the  history  (Jud.  i.  i6)  we  read:  ''And 
the  children  of  the  Kenite,  Moses'  father-in-law,  went 
up  out  of  the  city  of  palm  trees  with  the  children  of 
Judah  into  the  wilderness  of  Judah,  which  lieth  to  the 
south  of  Arad ;  and  they  went  and  dwelt  among  the 
people."  Treat  the  Kenites  kindly  and  charitably,  and 
by-and-by  they  may  come  to  dwell  among  you.  "  Walk 
in  wisdom  toward  them  that  are  without."  By  so  doing 
you  may  soon  bring  them  in. 

Consider  also  how  Moses  received  the  suggestions  of 
Jethro.  He  might  have  thought :  "what  presumption 
in  this  Midianite  to  dictate  to  the  ambassador  of  Jeho- 
vah ! "  But  Moses  was  a  man  of  a  very  different  spirit. 
In  Montreal,  some  years  ago,  a  certain  English  noble- 
man who  had  been  recently  converted,  and  was  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  large  multitudes  who  gathered  to  hear 
him,  unfortunately  had  his  heart  lifted  up  within  him,  and 
began  to  speak  bitterly  and  scornfully  of  the  churches  of 
Christ  in  the  city.  An  excellent  and  revered  Presbyterian 
elder  approached  the  young  nobleman  in  the  kindest  way, 
spoke  with  great  appreciation  of  the  value  of  his  work  in 
preaching  the  gospel,  but  suggested  that  it  would  be 
better  for  the  cause  if  he  would  cease  abusing  Chris- 
tians and  Christian  churches,  and  confine  himself  to  the 
preaching  of  Christ.  In  reply  he  curled  his  lip  in  scorn, 
and  said,  "  I  take  my  counsel  from  the  Lord !  "    What  a 


The  Wilderness.  75 

contrast  between  the  grand  nobleman  of  the  olden  time, 
and  the  small  one  of  yesterday.  Moses  might  with  some 
reason  have  claimed  a  monopoly  of  Divine  counsel.  God 
had  chosen  him  out  from  all  other  men  to  make  known 
His  will  to  him ;  but  when  Jethro,  though  an  outsider, 
and  one  who  had  only  good  common  sense  on  his  side, 
makes  his  suggestion,  Moses  does  not  scorn  to  listen  to 
his  advice,  and  take  it  too.  And  the  event  showed  that 
the  Lord  fully  approved  His  servant's  course. 

And  now,  before  we  leave  the  wilderness,  with  its  les- 
sons of  Christian  experience,  let  us  notice  how  each  suc- 
cessive trial  brings  out  some  new  and  substantial  revela- 
tion of  God.  Of  our  seven  wilderness  scenes  four  have 
been  scenes  of  trial.  Each  of  them  brings  out  in  strong 
relief  some  new  and  blessed  relation  which  the  Lord 
holds  to  His  people.  The  first,  Marah,  shows  me  Jeho- 
vah-rophi,  the  Lord  my  Healer.  The  next  presents 
Him  as  the  Bread  of  Life.  The  third  sets  forth  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  as  the  Water  of  Life ;  and  the  last  tells 
me  Jehovah-nissi,  the  Lord  is  my  Banner.  May  we  not 
welcome  our  sorest  trials,  when  they  have  in  them  the 
promise  of  such  precious  and  blessed  revelations  of  Jeho- 
vah-Jesus ! 

"All  the  way  my  Saviour  leads  me, 

Cheers  each  winding  path  I  tread  ; 
Gives  me  grace  for  eveiy  trial, 

Feeds  me  with  the  living  bread. 
Though  my  weary  steps  may  falter. 

And  my  soul  athirst  may  be  ; 
Gushing  from  the  Rock  before  me, 

Lo,  a  spring  of  joy  I  see  ! 


The  Mosaic  Era. 

'  All  the  way  my  Saviour  leads  me, 

Oh,  the  fulness  of  His  love  ; 
Perfect  rest  to  me  is  promised. 

In  my  Father's  house  above  ! 
When  my  spirit  clothed  immortal, 

Wings  its  flight  to  realms  of  day  ; 
This  my  song  through  endless  ages, 

Jesus  led  me  all  the  way  !  " 


VI. 
THE  SINAI    REVELATION. 

EXODUS  XIX.,  XX. 

JEHOVAH  had  said  to  Moses  at  the  burning  bush, 
"  When  thou  hast  brought  forth  the  people  out  of 
Egypt,  ye  shall  serve  God  upon  this  mountain  "  (Exod. 
iii.  12).  And  now  the  promise  is  about  to  be  fulfilled, 
for  there  is  Israel  encamped  before  the  mount  (xix.  2). 

The  characteristic  feature  of  the  Sinai  revelation  is 
the  law ;  but  it  is  important  to  observe  that  it  is  not 
law  as  a  means  of  salvation,  but  law  as  a  sequel  of  sal- 
vation. This  appears  very  clearly  in  the  preliminary 
sketch  which  Vv^as  given  to  Moses  as  soon  as  the  people 
had  settled  themselves  at  the  base  of  the  mountain. 
"  And  Moses  went  up  unto  God,  and  the  Lord  called 
unto  him  out  of  the  mountain,  saying.  Thus  shalt  thou 
say  to  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  tell  the  children  of  Israel : 
Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how  I 
bare  you  on  eagle's  wings,  and  brought  you  unto  Myself. 
Nov/  therefore,  if  ye  will  obey  My  voice  indeed,  and 
keep  My  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure 
unto  me  above  all  people  :  for  all  the  earth  is  mine : 
and  ye  shall  be  unto  Me  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  an 
holy  nation.  These  are  the  words  which  thou  shalt 
speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel."     The  message,  you 

(77) 


78  The  Mosaic  Era. 

observe,  begins  with  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  them, 
and  then  goes  on  to  what  He  expects  them  to  do  for 
Him.  '^  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did";  ''Now,  therefore, 
if  ye  " — such  is  the  order,  the  same  order  as  in  the  New 
Testament,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  for  instance, 
where,  after  setting  forth  first  the  need  of  salvation 
(chap,  i.-iii.  20),  and  then  the  salvation  freely  provided 
(chap.  iii.  21-xi.),  the  law  of  Christian  living  is  intro- 
duced :  "  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the 
mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies,"  etc.  (chap, 
xii.  i).  It  is  true  indeed,  that  the  law  is  introduced  as  a 
condition  of  something  to  follow  :  "  If  ye  will  obey  My 
voice  ....  t/ieu  ....";  but  that  something  is  not 
salvation,  wdiich  had  been  bestowed  unconditionally, 
freely,  before  (ver.  4) ;  it  is  the  enjoyment  of  those 
special  blessings  which  "  accompany  and  flow  from  "  the 
original  act  of  salvation.  Clearly,  then,  the  law  of  Moses 
was  given  not  as  a  way  of  salvation,  but  as  a  means  of 
training  those  who  had  been  already  saved.  If  this 
simple  and  evident  fact  were  only  borne  in  mind  in  the 
reading  of  the  Old  Testament,  endless  perplexities  and 
confusions  of  thought  would  be  avoided. 

Observe,  also,  the  kind  of  blessings  which  are  prom- 
ised. How  many  are  there  who  will  persist  in  maintain- 
ing that  the  old  covenant  offered  mere  temporal  blessing, 
while  it  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  new  to  promise 
spiritual  blessing.  It  is  true  that  temporal  blessings  were 
included  under  the  old  covenant,  just  as  they  are  under 
the  new  ;  and  though  they  do  hold  a  more  prominent 
place  in  the  old,  as  was  indeed  to  be  expected,  yet  it  is 
a  slander  upon  that  covenant  to  say  that  these  were  t/ie 


The  Sinai  Revelation.  79 

blessings  it  offered.  The  great  blessings  of  the  old  cov- 
enant were  undoubtedly  spiritual,  as  is  manifest  here  : 
"  If  ye  will  obey  My  voice  and  keep  My  covenant,  then 
ye  shall  be  to  me  a  peculiar  treasure  above  all  people  "  ; 
*'  and  ye  shall  be  unto  Me  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  an 
holy  nation."  Nearness  to  God,  dearness  to  God,  holi- 
ness— these  were  the  characteristic  blessings  of  the  old 
covenant.  These  promises  are  among  the  richest  and 
most  deeply  spiritual  in  the  whole  Bible  ;  and  it  is  with 
great  reluctance  that,  yielding  to  the  exigency  of  our 
plan,  we  refrain  from  entering  into  the  wealth  of  mean- 
ing which  each  separate  word  conveys.  Let  me  only 
notice  in  leaving  it,  that  when  the  Apostle  Peter  wishes 
to  express  in  the  very  strongest  terms  the  highest  privi- 
leges of  the  children  of  God  under  the  new  dispensation, 
he  can  do  nothing  better  than  quote  these  old  but  "  ex- 
ceeding great  and  precious  promises  "  (i  Pet.  ii.  9). 

Passing  from  the  preliminary  sketch  to  the  full  revela- 
tion, we  are  met  first  by  a  new  manifestation  of  God. 
In  Leviticus  xix.  2  we  read :  "  Ye  shall  be  holy ;  for  I 
the  Lord  your  God  am  holy."  Israel  is  now  called  to  be 
"  a  holy  nation  "  (ver.  6) ;  and  in  order  to  prepare  them 
to  obey  the  call,  God  reveals  Himself  to  them  as  "  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel."  It  is  interesting  and  instructive 
to  note  the  order  of  these  revelations.  You  remember 
(Exod.  vi.  3)  how  the  first  revelation  God  made  of  Him- 
self to  His  chosen  ones  was  a  revelation  of  fatherly  care 
and  protecting  power,  a  providential  revelation  of  Him- 
self, so  to  speak.  Next  came  the  revelation  of  redeem- 
ing love,  the  main  import  of  the  name  Jehovah,  a  very 
rich  and  full  and  blessed  revelation,  in   the  course   of 


8o  The  Mosaic  Era. 

which  we  see  His  sympathy  with  Israel's  sorrow  (Exod. 
iii.  7) ;  His  promise  to  save  them,  repeated  again  and 
again  ;  and  in  due  time  that  promise  magnificently  ful- 
filled in  the  chain  of  events  we  have  rapidly  surveyed, 
during  which  He  showed  Himself  their  Saviour  from 
Pharaoh's  bondage,  their  Saviour  through  the  atone- 
ment, their  Saviour  at  the  Red  Sea  ;  and  thereafter  in 
the  desert  at  Marah,  as  Jehovah  their  healer,  as  their 
bread  and  their  water  in  their  hours  of  hunger  and  thirst, 
and  as  Jehovah  their  banner,  in  the  hard  contest  with 
their  foes  in  the  wilderness.  Thus  fully  and  beautifully 
was  the  redeeming  love  and  saving  grace  of  God  mani- 
fested. Now  comes  the  third  revelation,  as  important 
in  its  place  as  either  of  the  others,  the  revelation  of  His 
holiness  and  justice.  It  is  the  '' holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord 
God,"  who  is  revealed  on  Sinai. 

Before  we  leave  the  thought  of  the  order  of  these 
revelations,  let  us  note  the  importance  of  observing  it 
in  our  presentation  of  the  truth,  especially  to  our  chil- 
dren. Let  us,  in  fact,  learn  from  God's  dealing  with  His 
children,  hov/  to  deal  with  ours.  Begin  with  the  fatherly 
care,  go  on  to  the  redeeming  love  ;  and  then,  and  not  till 
then,  seek  to  impress  the  holiness  and  justice,  and  the 
terror  of  His  avenging  law.  IMuch  injury  has  often 
been  done  to  the  tender  hearts  of  little  children  by 
beginning  with  Sinai,  and  the  terrors  of  the  law — by 
giving  them  their  first  ideas  of  religion  in  the  shape  of 
threats  of  Divine  vengeance,  if  they  do  not  obey. 
With  the  hardened  sinner  it  may  be  necessary  to  begin 
with  the  terrors  of  the  law,  in  the  hope  of  showing  him 
his  need  of  salvation  from  the  wrath  to  come ;  but  with 


The  Sinai  Revelation.  8i 

the  comparatively  innocent  children,  this  course  is  apt 
to  be  exceedingly  injurious.  Let  them  know  His  fatherly 
care,  His  tender  sympathy,  His  redeeming  love — let 
them  know  these  well  and  thoroughly,  before  you  alarm 
them  with  the  terrors  of  His  avenging  wrath. 

The  Divine  holiness  is  so  familiar  a  thought  with  us, 
enters  so  necessarily  into  all  our  conceptions  of  God, 
that  it  is  difficult  for  us  so  realize  its  coming  into  the 
minds  of  men  as  something  entirely  new.  But  so  it  was. 
The  heathen  nations  were  destitute  of  the  idea  ;  and 
even  the  people  of  God  had  to  be  taught  it  for  the  first 
time  at  the  period  of  the  Exodus.  The  word  "  holy," 
as  we  have  before  remarked,  does  not  occur  in  Genesis. 
The  first  introduction  of  it  is  at  the  burning  bush:  ''  Put 
off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet ;  for  the  place  whereon 
thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  We  saw  on  that  occa- 
sion, the  close  connection  between  the  holiness  and  the 
love  of  God.  That  connection  was  not  accidental.  The 
Biblical  idea  of  holiness  is,  throughout,  associated  with 
that  of  love  and  mercy  f'  and  herein  we  see  the  appro- 
priateness of  that  reference  in  the  Red  Sea  song  of  sal- 
vation :  ''  Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  glorious  in  holiness, 
fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  ?  .  .  .  .  Thou  in  Thy 
mercy  hast  led  forth  the  people  which  Thou  hast  re- 
deemed "  (Exod.  XV.  ii-i  3).  In  fact,  just  as  it  is  through 
''  the  apprehension  of  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  "  that 
a  sinner  is  led  to  true  repentance,  so  the  revelation  of 
the  Divine  love  is  the  path  through  which  alone  we  can 


*  See  Cremer's  "  Biblico-theologlcal  Lexicon  of  New  Testament 
Greek,"  art.  ayioc^. 


82  The  Mosaic  Era. 

reach  the  knowledge  of  the  Divine  holiness.  Hence  the 
connection  of  the  promise  of  mercy  with  the  symbol  of 
holiness  at  the  burning  bush  ;  and  hence  the  postpone- 
ment of  the  full  revelation  of  the  Divine  holiness  till 
the  consummation  of  Israel's  redemption  and  the  full 
manifestation  of  their  God's  redeeming  love.  The  in- 
telligent reader  will  at  once  recognise,  that  a  very  Avide 
and  most  inviting  field  is  opened  here ;  but  we  can  only 
point  to  the  open  gate,  and  pass  on. 

The  place  was  most  appropriate  for  the  revelation.  I 
shall  attempt  no  description  of  the  wild,  desolate,  rugged 
grandeur  of  Sinai.  Enough  to  say,  that  all  the  sur- 
roundings were  fitted  to  fill  the  soul  with  that  awe  which 
one  feels  in  presence  of  the  sublime  in  nature,  and  to 
produce  the  impression  of  separation  from  the  world  of 
man,  and  introduction  into  the  presence  of  the  Almighty 
Maker  of  all  things.  "  Ye  have  seen,"  said  God,  "  what 
I  did  unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagle's 
wings,  and  brought  you  unto  Myself  (xix.  4).  And 
then,  besides,  the  people  were  specially  prepared  for  an 
awe-inspiring  revelation,  by  the  regulations  in  prospect 
of  the  third  day,  when  Jehovah  should  appear  in  sight 
of  all  the  people  (ver.  10-19).  And  when  the  solemn 
hour  at  last  struck,  the  awe  which  the  place  itself  in- 
spired, and  the  reverence  it  had  thus  specially  awakened 
in  the  people's  hearts,  were  reinforced  by  the  thrilling 
portents  which  attended  the  revelation :  the  thunders 
and  lightnings ;  the  thick  cloud  upon  the  mount,  from 
whose  dark  interior  there  sounded  out  "  the  voice  of  a 
trumpet  exceeding  loud  "  ;  and  then  the  quaking  of  the 
earth,  as  Jehovah  descended  in  fiery  grandeur  upon  the 


The  Sinai  Revelation.  83 

mount  (vor.  16-18).  Could  imagination  possibly  con- 
ceive any  circumstances  more  fitted  to  impress  the  senti- 
ment of  holy  reverence  and  awe  in  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel  ? 

Who  can  estimate  what  the  world  owes  to  these  por- 
tents of  Sinai,  in  the  time  when  Israel  was  a  child 
(Hosea  xi.  i),  and  "heaven  lay  about  him  in  his  infancy." 
We  are  so  much  occupied  with  that  majestic  law,  "the 
rugged  grandeur  of  which  towers  above  the  greatest 
monuments  of  Egypt,  like  Sinai  itself  above  the  pyra- 
mids," that  we  forget  the  intrinsic  value  of  those  awful 
manifestations,  which  preceded  its  promulgation.  But 
if  we  have  the  foundation  of  all  ethics  in  the  Decalogue, 
we  have  also,  in  the  portents  which  preceded,  the  foun- 
dation of  that  reverence  which  is  the  soul  of  all  true 
ethics,  of  those 

"  High  instincts,  before  which  our  mortal  nature 
Did  tremble  like  a  guilty  thing  surprised  ! 


Those  shadowy  recollections, 

Which,  be  they  what  they  may, 
Are  yet  the  fountain  light  of  all  our  day, 
Are  yet  a  master  light  of  all  our  seeing ; 

Uphold  us— cherish— and  have  power  to  make 
Our  noisy  years  seem  moments  in  the  being 
Of  the  eternal  silence  :  truths  that  wake 

To  perish  never ! 
Which  neither  listlessness,  nor  mad  endeavour, 

Nor  man,  nor  boy. 
Nor  all  that  is  at  enmity  with  joy, 
Can  utterly  abolish  or  destroy  ! "  * 


*  Wordsworth,  Ode  on  Intimations  of  Immortality,  Derived  from 
Recollections  of  Early  Childhood. 


84  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Our  reverence  for  nature,  and  our  reverence  for  the 
God  of  nature,  are  both  of  Hebrew  origin  ;  and  Sinai  is 
their  birthplace.  Alas  !  that  there  should  be  so  much  in 
these  times  so  utterly  at  enmity  with  human  joy,  as  to 
encourage  the  attempt  to  abolish  and  destroy  these,  by 
cutting  away  their  roots  in  that  supernatural  which  is 
their  only  basis.  But  the  God  of  Sinai  still  lives  ;  and 
so  long  as  He  is  acknowledged,  reverence  will  still  abide 
among  men,  in  which,  as  Ruskin  truly  says,  ^'  is  the  chief 
joy  and  power  of  life." 

And  now  we  come  to  the  Law  itself  (chap,  xx.),  in  the 
forefront  of  which  shine  the  Ten  Words  or  Decalogue, 
distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  law  as  spoken  by  God 
Himself  "out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud,  and 
of  the  thick  darkness,"  and  then  written  on  two  tables 
of  stone  and  delivered  unto  Moses  (Deut.  v.  22). 

And  here  again,  even  here,  in  the  Ten  Words,  grace  is 
the  foundation  of  all.  There  is  a  preface  to  the  Deca- 
logue. And  what  is  that  preface  ?  It  is  the  gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God:  ''  I  am  Jehovah  thy  God,  which  have 
brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house 
of  bondage."  One  of  the  Rabbinical  questions  on  this 
preface  used  to  be  :  "  Why  did  not  Jehovah  rather  pro- 
claim Himself  as  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth?"  It  is 
easy  for  us  now,  in  the  light  of  the  New  Testament,  to 
answer  the  question  which  perplexed  the  Rabbis.  It  is 
not  tlie  greatness,  but  the  goodness  of  God,  and  specially 
His  redeeming  love,  that  leads  men  to  repentance  (Rom. 
ii.  4),  that  inclines  their  hearts  to  obey  all  the  words  of 
this  law. 

Another  general  feature  which  distinguishes  this  law 


The  Sinai  Revelation.  85 

from  all  heathen  codes  of  morality,  is  its  reference  of 
everything  to  God.     ''  I  am  Jehovah  thy  God,"  is  the 
foundation  of  it  all.    (See  also  Lev.  xix.  2,  18).    Josephus 
J  discriminates  correctly  when  he  remarks,  that  whereas 
I  the  heathen  moralists  made  religion  a  part  of   virtue, 
'  Moses  makes  virtue  a  part  of  religion. "'     The  only  foun- 
dation for  true  humanity  is  sound   divinity.     The  only 
perennial  fountain  of    love  to  man  is  love  to  God,  in 
whose  image  he  is  made. 

The  brevity,  simplicity,  and  comprehensiveness  of  the 
Decalogue  have  often  been  remarked  ;  its  symmetrical 
arrangement  too,  with  its  two  tables,  of  duty  to  God, 
and  duty  to  man,  while  the  fifth  commandment  forms 
the  connecting  link  between,  the  relation  of  fatherhood 
and  motherhood  being  the  nearest  earthly  image  of  our 
common  relation  to  our  Father  in  Heaven.  Then,  the 
first  table  begins  with  the  honouring  of  God  in  the  heart, 
and  proceeds  through  words  to  deeds  ;  while  the  second 
table  begins  with  conduct,  forbidding  the  injury  of  our 
neighbour  in  person,  in  family,  in  property,  and  then  pro- 
ceeds through  words  to  the  thoughts  of  the  heart  again. 
Objections  have  been  made  to  the  prevailing  negative 
form,  especially  of  the  second  table,  to  which  the  best 
answer  seems  to  me  to  be  the  challenge :  ^'  Write  you 
out  a  positive  Decalogue,  and  see  if  you  can  improve  on 
the  old."  Men  have  had  more  than  thirty  centuries  to 
try  it ;  but  they  have  not  succeeded  yet !  Besides,  the 
negative  form  of  the  Decalogue  appropriately  confronts 
the  positive  tendency  of  man  to  sin ;  and  on  the  other 


Against  Apion,"  ii.  17. 


86  The  Mosaic  Era. 

hand  the  true  positive  is  found  in  the  abounding  grace 
of  God.  Let  any  redeemed  soul  honestly  take  this 
negative  of  the  law,  and  faithfully  keep  it,  and  the  Sun 
of  righteousness  will  certainly  print  off  its  positive  on 
the  tablet  of  the  heart,  according  to  the  promise  in  Exo- 
dus xix.  5,  6. 

Many  have  found  a  difficulty  in  the  reason  appended 
to  the  second  commandment ;  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered in  the  first  place,  that  the  word  "  jealous  "  cannot 
be  used  in  the  same  sense  exactly  when  applied  to  God, 
as  when  it  is  applied  to  man.  His  jealousy  is  a  holy 
jealousy.  Purge  human  jealousy  of  all  the  evil  connected 
with  it,  and  it  will  give  us  the  best  idea  of  the  Divine 
jealousy,  a  jealousy  which  is  not  selfish,  as  is  usually 
the  case  with  men,  but  concerned  with  the  highest  and 
best  interests  of  those  towards  whom  the  emotion  is  felt. 
(See  2  Cor.  xi.  2).  Then  as  to  the  visiting  of  fathers' 
iniquities  upon  the  children,  we  must  bear  in  mind  first, 
the  unquestionable  fact  that  children  do  suffer  for  the 
sins  of  their  parents,  and  that  it  is  of  great  importance 
to  bring  this  to  bear  upon  men's  consciences  to  deter 
them  from  sin.  Take  the  sin  of  drunkenness  for  in- 
stance— how  the  poor  children  of  the  inebriate  suffer  for 
no  fault  of  theirs.  Is  it  not  to  the  credit  of  the  Bible 
that  it  does  not  quietly  ignore,  as  it  might  so  easily  have 
done,  these  hard  facts  which  exist  in  nature  and  in  provi- 
dence, but  boldly  faces  them  and  deals  with  them?  But 
it  must  also  be  remembered,  that  so  far  as  Divine  visita- 
tion is  concerned,  it  is  only  "  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  of  tJicni  that  hate  "  God,  so  that  though,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  the  children  suffer  for  their  fathers* 


The  Sinai  Revelation.  87 

sins,  as  a  penal  infliction  they  suffer  only  for  their  own. 
Furthermore,  see  how  "mercy  rejoices  against  judg- 
ment "  ;  for  while  the  judgment  extends  only  to  the  third 
and  fourth  generation  of  those  that  hate,  the  mercy 
goes  down  to  the  thousandth  generation  of  them  that 
love  God,  for  that  is  the  true  interpretation  of  the  Hebrew, 
as  is  clearly  seen  even  in  the  English  of  Deuteronomy 
vii.  9.  Lastly,  let  a  child  of  any  generation,  even  of 
them  that  hate  God,  only  repent,  and  he  will  not  only 
not  be  punished  for  the  sins  of  his  fathers,  but  even  his 
own  sins  will  not  be  remembered  at  all  against  him.  See 
on  this  whole  subject,  Ezekiel  xviii. 

"And  all  the  people  saw  the  thunderings,  and  the 
lightnings,  and  the  mountain  smoking,  and  heard  the 
noise  of  the  trumpet ;  and  when  the  people  saw  it,  they 
removed  and  stood  afar  off"  (ver.  18).  The  natural 
effect  of  the  law  ;  its  necessary-  effect  when  the  con- 
science is  truly  alive.  What  then  ?  Must  they  remain 
"  afar  off  "  ?  Now  that  God  is  revealed  as  holy,  can  they 
no  longer  know  Him  as  their  Father  and  Friend  ?  Now 
that  He  has  shown  how  far  off  He  is,  can  they  no  longer 
come  near?  The  chapters  which  follow,  setting  forth 
the  covenant,  supply  the  answer.  This  we  must  leave 
for  separate  consideration.  Meantime  we  shall  only  look 
at  the  few  verses  following.  There  the  way  of  the  altar 
is  pointed  out.  The  people  may  come  even  to  the  "  holy, 
holy,  holy.  Lord  God,"  the  same  who  has  talked  with 
them  from  heaven  (ver,  22) ;  not  to  any  idol  supposed  to 
represent  Him  (ver.  23),  but  to  Himself ;  only  it  must  be 
with  sacrifice  (ver.  24) ;  and  when  they  come,  they  have 
this  gracious  promise   to   assure  their  hearts  :   "  In  all 


88  The  Mosaic  Era. 

places  where  I  record  My  name  I  will  come  unto  thee, 
and  I  will  bless  thee  "  (ver.  24).  But  He  would  have 
them  come  in  the  simplicity  of  confiding  faith,  and  not 
with  the  notion  so  common  in  Egypt  (of  which  the  quo- 
tation from  the  hymn  of  Pentaur  in  the  last  lecture  may 
serve  as  an  illustration),  that  it  will  gain  them  the  Di- 
vine favour  to  make  a  costly  erection  in  His  honour 
(ver.  25).  There  must  be  as  little  as  possible  of  human 
display  in  the  worship  of  God,  for  what  after  all  is  it  but 
the  display  of  nakedness  (ver.  26) ;  they  must  come,  and 
we  too  must  come,  in  utter  simplicity,  thinking  only  of 
Him  who  has  said:  ''I  will  come  unto  thee,  and  I  will 
bless  thee." 

There  is  a  tradition  current  among  the  Jews  that  the 
law  was  given  upon  Mount  Sinai  on  the  fiftieth  day  from 
the  date  of  the  Exodus ;  and  there  seems  not  only  no 
reason  to  doubt  it,  but  every  reason  to  accept  it.  Sinai 
then  was  the  Pentecost  of  the  old  dispensation.  And 
conversely,  Pentecost  is  the  Sinai  of  the  new.  Fifty 
days  after  the  slaying  of  the  paschal  lamb  there  was  the 
coming  down  of  the  Holy  One  upon  the  mount.  Fifty 
days  after  "  Christ  our  Passover  was  sacrificed  for  us  " 
the  Holy  Spirit  descended  on  the  Church  met  together 
on  that  mount  of  ordinances  in  the  upper  room.  The 
inner  relations  of  the  two  events  will  be  clearly  discerned 
by  an  examination  of  that  passage  in  Jeremiah  which  is 
quoted  with  so  much  effect  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews :  "  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I 
will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel,  and 
with  the  house  of  Judah  :  not  according  to  the  covenant 
which  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  took 
them   by  the  hand  to  bring  them   out  of  the  land  of 


The  Sinai  Revelation.  89 

Egypt ;  which  My  covenant  they  brake,  although  I  was 
an  husband  unto  them,  saith  the  Lord  :  but  this  shall  be 
the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of  Israel ; 
After  those  days,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  put  My  law  in 
their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts  "  (Jer.  xxxi. 
31-33).  This,  as  we  all  know,  is  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  On  the  Pentecostal  day  of  the  old  covenant,  Je- 
hovah came  down  from  heaven  to  reveal  Himself  as  the 
Holy  One,  and  give  His  law  to  His  redeemed  people; 
on  the  Pentecostal  day  of  the  new  covenant  in  like  man- 
ner He  descended  in  the  person  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to 
write  His  law,  "  not  in  tables  of  stone,  but  in  the  fleshy 
tables  of  the  heart  " — the  hearts  of  all  who  were  redeem- 
ed by  the  blood  of  the  Great  Sacrifice  which  had  been 
offered  up  on  Calvary ;  and  this  seems  to  have  been  in 
the  mind  of  the  Apostle  when  he  wrote :  "  The  law  of 
the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from 
the  law  of  sin  and  death  "  (Rom.  viii.  2).  And  just  as 
the  holy  law  was  securely  kept  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
within  the  holiest  of  all ;  so  has  the  Holy  Ghost  remain- 
ed in  the  midst  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  according 
to  the  Saviour's  promise.  So  too  eveiy  true  believer 
should  have  in  his  inmost  heart  a  shrine  for  the  Holy 
One,  who  comes  to  dwell  in  us  in  the  blessed  fulness  of 
Pentecostal  grace.  Thus  and  thus  only  can  we  realize 
the  fulfilment  of  those  '^  great  and  precious  promises," 
which  were  given  of  old  to  Israel,  and  of  which  we  who 
believe  in  Christ  are  the  true  heirs ;  thus  and  thus  only 
can  we  prove  ourselves  to  be  ''  a  chosen  generation,  a 
royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people,  to 
sho-  forth  the  praises  of  Him  who  hath  called  us  out  of 
dai     .ess  into  His  marvellous  light." 


VII. 
THE   SINAI   COVENANT. 

EXODUS  XX.  22— XXIV. 

a  ^  I  ^HE  Sinai  Revelation"  is  a  term  which  maybe 
A  used  with  varying  latitude  of  meaning.  In  its 
widest  sense  it  will  include  the  laws  of  Leviticus,  which 
were  given  from  the  Tabernacle  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain, as  well  as  all  the  laws  of  Exodus,  which  were  given 
from  the  top  of  the  mount.  In  its  narrowest  sense  it 
may  be  restricted  to  the  revelation  of  the  igth  and  20th 
chapters,  as  distinguished  from  the  remaining  laws  of 
Exodus,  as  well  as  from  the  whole  body  of  the  civil  and 
ceremonial  law.  It  is  in  this  narrowest  sense  that  we 
have  used  the  term  ;  so  that  we  are  justified  in  treating 
the  Sinai  covenant  as  a  distinct  subject.  The  distinction 
is  clearly  marked  in  Exodus  by  the  separation  of  "  the 
Ten  Words  "  spoken  by  God  Himself  in  the  hearing  of 
all  the  people,  from  the  communications  which  were 
subsequently  given  through  Moses.  The  22d  verse  of 
the  20th  chapter  marks  the  transition.  The  distinction 
is  still  more  strikingly  indicated  in  the  corresponding 
passage  in  Deuteronomy,  where  we  read  (Deut.  v.  22) : 
^'  These  words  the  Lord  spake  unto  all  your  assembly  in 
the  mount  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  of  the  cloud,  and 
of  the  thick  darkness,  with  a  great  voice :  and  He  added 
(90) 


The  Sinai  Covenant.  91 

no  more.  '  And  He  wrote  them  in  two  tables  of  stone." 
It  is  true  that  the  Decalogue  formed  part  of  the  nation- 
al covenant,  as  is  evident  both  from  Exodus  xix.  5,  and 
Deuteronomy  v.  2.     But  it  was  more,  far  more.     The 
national  covenant  was  temporary,  intended  to  last  only 
so  long  as  the  nation  lasted ;  while  the  revelation  of  the 
holy  Lord,  and  His  holy  law,  was  more  than  national,  it 
was  catholic ;  it  was  not  temporary,  but  eternal.     And 
this  distinction  is  most  impressively  brought  out  by  the 
promulgation  of  the  Decalogue  in  a  voice  which  ''  shook 
the  earth  "  (Heb.  xii.  26),  as  if  to  say,  "  O  earth,  earth, 
earth,  hear  the  voice  of  the  Lord!"  while  the  statutes 
and  judgments  of  the  civil  and  ceremonial  law  were 
simply  delivered  to   Moses  as  the  lawgiver  of   Israel. 
And  the  same  distinction  is  apparent  in  the  manner  of 
recording,  between  the  enduring  tables  of  stone,  and  the 
more  perishable  "  book  of  the  covenant "  (Exod.  xxiv. 
7).     The  distinction  appears  also  in  the  50th  Psalm,  in  a 
very  striking  manner.     The  Psalm  opens  with  a  reference 
to  the  great  universal  revelation  of  the  first  day :  "  The 
mighty  God,  even  the  Lord,  hath  spoken  and  called  t/ie 
earth  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  unto  the  going  down 
thereof r    Further  on  (ver.  5)  He  refers  to  the  covenant : 
"  gather  My  saints  together  unto  Me ;  those  that  have 
made  a  covenant  with  Me  by  sacrificed 

"  The  Sinai  covenant "  might  also  be  used  in  a  wider 
sense,  as  including  all  the  transactions  between  God  and 
the  people  at  Sinai ;  but  we  are  deahng  with  it  now  in  a 
narrower  sense,  as  applied  to  the  transaction  recorded  in 
Exodus  xxiv.,  which  stands  only  second  in  importance  to 
that  of  the  first  day,  when  the  Ten  Words  were  spoken. 


92  The  Mosaic  Era. 

But  before  we  consider  the  solemn  inauguration  of 
the  covenant,  we  must  glance  at  ^'  the  book  of  the  cov- 
enant "  which  was  its  basis.  This  will  take  us  over  the 
intervening  chapters.  It  has  been  a  question  whether 
the  book  of  the  covenant  contained  the  Decalogue  or 
not.  I  think  it  exceedingly  likely  that  it  did ;  and 
whether  it  did  or  not,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it 
was  understood  to  rest  upon  the  tables  of  stone  as  its 
rock  foundation.  But  ''  the  book  of  the  covenant,"  as 
distinguished  from  the  tables  of  stone,  begins  v/ith  these 
words  in  the  22d  verse  of  the  20th  chapter :  ''  Ye  have 
seen  that  I  have  talked  with  you  from  heaven  "  ;  and 
extends  to  the  close  of  the  23d  chapter.  It  may  be 
divided  into  four  parts. 

The  first  is  a  general  outline  of  the  mode  of  worship, 
especially  guarding  its  purity  and  simplicity^  (ver.  22- 
26).  The  outline  was  afterwards  to  be  filled  up  in  the 
elaborate  ritual  of  the  Tabernacle  and  its  services ;  but 
in  the  book  of  the  covenant  there  were  only  the  leading 
principles  which  were  to  govern  and  guide  the  people 
in  their  acts  of  worship. 

The  next  division  contains  "  the  judgments,"  as  they 
are  called,  regulating  the  civil  relations  to  each  other  of 
the  members  of  the  Hebrew  commonwealth  (xxi.  i- 
xxiii.  9).  These  judgments  stood  related  to  the  second 
table  of  the  law,  just  as  the  regulations  concerning  the 
worship  of  the  altar  stood  related  to  the  first.  But  it 
is  a  sad  mistake  to  confound  the  two  together,  as  those 
Rabbis  did  who  quoted  ''  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth 


*  See  remarks  on  the  passage  in  last  lecture,  pp.  87,  88. 


The  Sinai  Covenant.  93 

for  a  tooth,"  as  a  justification  for  private  revenge.  The 
duty  of  the  state  to  punish  criminals  is  one  thing ;  the 
duty  of  forgiving  enemies  in  private  Hfe  is  another. 
And  the  two  are  quite  compatible.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered also  that  these  "  judgments,"  and  those  of  the 
same  kind  which  afterwards  were  added  as  occasion 
arose,  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the  moral  law,  not 
only  as  applying  to  the  state  rather  than  to  the  individ- 
ual, but  also  as  local  and  temporary  in  their  nature, 
representing  not  what  was  ideally  best,  but  only  what 
was  then  practically  possible  in  the  direction  of  that 
which  was  best.  Some  very  superficial  people  criticise 
them  as  if  they  were  intended  for  the  nineteenth  cent- 
ury !  The  Decalogue  was,  and  is,  intrinsically  perfect ; 
the  "judgments"  were  adapted  to  the  circumstances 
and  wants  of  Israel  at  the  time.  And  it  would  be  a 
good  thing  if  reformers  of  modern  times  would  always 
remember  the  same  wise  and  necessary  distinction,  be- 
tween that  which  is  ideally  perfect  and  that  which  alone 
may  be  practically  possible.  Still  further  it  is  to  be  re- 
membered, that  these  judgments  were  suitable  to  "  the 
theocracy "  of  Israel ;  and  hence  those  are  entirely 
wrong  who  attempt  to  use  them  as  precedents  for  gen- 
eral legislation  in  the  limited  monarchies  and  republican 
governments,  and  otherwise  entirely  altered  circum- 
stances, of  modern  times.  If  this  had  not  been  forgotten, 
the  Church  of  the  New  Testament  would  have  been 
saved  the  disgrace  of  many  of  those  intolerant  and  per- 
secuting laws  for  which  support  was  most  unjustifiably 
sought  in  the  political  regulations  of  the  Hebrew  com- 
monwealth.    On  the  other  hand,  if  we  could  only  com- 


94  The  Mosaic  Era. 

pare  these  "  judgments  "  with  the  laws  and  customs  of 
the  nations  around,  we  should  see  by  force  of  contrast 
how  exceedingly  pure,  wise,  just,  and  humane  they  are ; 
and  especially  where  private  relations  are  dealt  with,  we 
have  touches  which  would  not  shame  the  New  Testa- 
ment itself,  however  much  they  may  in  another  sense 
shame  us,  as  for  instance  (Exod.  xxiii.  4,  5) :  "  If  thou 
meet  thy  enemy's  ox  or  his  ass  going  astray,  thou  shalt 
surely  bring  it  back  to  him  again.  If  thou  see  the  ass 
of  him  that  hateth  thee  lying  under  his  burden,  and 
wouldest  forbear  to  help  him,  thou  shalt  surely  help  with 
him." 

The  third  division  of  the  book  of  the  covenant  has  to  do 
with  matters  which  relate  neither  to  worship  exclusively, 
nor  to  civil  relations  exclusively,  but  to  both.  These 
are  the  Sabbath  year,  the  Sabbath  day,  and  the  yearly 
festivals  (xxiii.  10-19).  As  for  the  Sabbath  year  and  the 
festivals,  they  will  come  up  again  in  the  fuller  details 
which  were  given  from  the  Tabernacle  and  recorded  in 
Leviticus.  And  as  for  the  Sabbath  day,  we  may  simply 
remark  the  significance  of  its  presence  here  in  the  book 
of  the  covenant,  as  well  as  in  the  Decalogue,  indicating 
that  while  in  its  principle  it  belongs  to  universal  and  un- 
changeable law,  in  its  letter  it  formed  part  of  that  national 
covenant  which  was  merged  in  the  new  and  better  cove- 
nant of  the  later  age. 

The  closing  division  of  the  book  contains  those  prom- 
ises which  set  forth  the  Divine  part  in  the  covenant, — 
promises  of  angelic  guidance,  victory,  national  prosperity 
and  greatness,  —  accompanied,  however,  with  cautions 
against  disobedience,  and  against  yielding  to  the  temp- 


The  Sinai  Covenant.  95 

tation  of  forsaking  the  God  of  Israel  for  the  gods  of 
the  other  nations  which  should  be  around  them  (ver. 
20-23). 

Such  was  the  book  of  the  covenant  which  Moses  pre- 
pared under  Divine  direction  ;  and  now  (xxiv.  1,2)  he 
and  Aaron,  Nadab,  Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders  of 
Israel  are  summoned  into  the  Lord's  presence  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people,  for  the  solemn  act  of  inaugura- 
tion, to  the  consideration  of  which  we  now  address  our- 
selves. 

The  first  thing  Moses  did  was  to  make  the  people  ac- 
quainted with  the  contents  of  the  book  so  that  they 
might  know  certainly  what  obligations  they  were  about 
to  assume.  Whatever  they  did,  they  must  do  intelli- 
gently. Having  secured  in  this  way  the  assent  of  the 
people  (ver.  3),  the  mediator  of  the  covenant  made  the 
necessary  preparations.  After  finishing  the  writing  of 
the  book,  he  erected  an  altar  and  twelve  pillars.  The 
altar  represented  the  presence  of  God.  The  pillars 
represented  the  tribes  of  Israel  (ver.  4).  It  is  probable 
that  the  altar  would  be  in  the  centre  and  the  pillars 
ranged  round  it ;  and  accordingly  we  have  here  the  first 
outward  representation  of  the  Church.  Here  we  have 
the  idea  of  the  Tabernacle,  afterwards  more  fully  de- 
veloped in  the  Temple,  and  realized  spiritually  in  the 
Church  of  Christ,  the  tabernacle  or  temple  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  altar  of  sacrifice  was  in  the  centre 
then.  It  is  in  the  centre  still ;  for  what  else  is  the  cross 
around  which  we  all  as  Christians  gather,  than  the  altar 
of  the  New  Testament,  on  which  "  Christ  our  Passover 
was  sacrificed  for  us."     It  is  in  that  central  altar  that  the 


96  The  Mosaic  Era. 

different  tribes  of  New  Testament  Christians  all  find 
their  unity.  And  it  is  on  the  ground  of  the  sacrifice 
which  was  offered  there  that  all  the  promises  of  the 
covenant  are  given,  one  of  the  last  of  which  runs  thus  : 
"  Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple 
of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  no  more  out "  (Rev.  iii.  12). 

There  was  as  yet  no  formally  appointed  priest  in 
Israel.  Moses  himself,  the  mediator  of  the  covenant, 
until  special  appointments  were  made,  united  in  his 
own  person  all  the  different  offices.  So  he  employed 
young  men  to  make  the  necessary  preparations  for  offer- 
ing sacrifice  on  the  altar.  These  young  men,  under 
Moses'  direction,  ^'  offered  burnt  offerings  and  sacrificed 
peace  offerings  "  (ver.  5).  The  different  kinds  of  offer- 
ings will  come  very  fully  before  us  when  we  reach  Levi- 
ticus. Suffice  it  now  to  say  that  the  burnt  offerings 
belonged  more  exclusively  to  the  altar,  while  the  peace 
offerings  were  the  people's.  The  two  together  repre- 
sented the  mutual  relations  of  altar  and  pillars,  of  God 
and  His  people  ;  the  burnt  offerings  being  the  surrender 
of  the  people  to  God,  the  peace  offerings  symbolizing 
the  bestowal  of  the  Divine  blessing  upon  the  people. 

We  come  now  to  the  disposal  of  the  blood  of  the 
sacrifice,  that  part  of  the  ceremony  which  is  specially 
referred  to  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (chap.  ix. 
18-20).  Here  we  are  told  that  the  blood  was  sprinkled 
on  the  altar  and  on  the  people.  In  Hebrews  we  are 
told  that  Moses  sprinkled  both  the  book  and  the  people. 
Probably  then  the  book  was  laid  upon  the  altar,  so  that 
both  the  altar  itself,  and  the  book  upon  it,  would  be 
sprinkled  with  the  blood.     And  though  the  people  are 


The  Sinai  Covenant.  97 

spoken  of  both  here  and  in  Hebrews,  it  is  quite  probable 
that  it  was  the  pillars  as  representing  the  people  that 
were  sprinkled  ;  though  there  may  have  been,  in  order 
to  make  the  meaning  plainer  still,  a  sprinkling  of  the 
blood  in  the  direction  of  the  people  themselves. 

Let  us  now  examine  as  carefully  as  we  can  the  signifi- 
cance  of  this  blood  sprinkling.  There  is  first  the  general 
truth  taught  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  :  "  neither 
was  the  first  covenant  dedicated  without  blood."  Yes, 
even  in  that  national,  temporary  covenant,  which  had  so 
much  to  say  about  works,  with  blessings  promised  to 
obedience  and  curses  denounced  for  disobedience,  that 
covenant  which  many  regard  as  wholly  legal,  even  ^/la^ 
covenant  is  founded  on  the  grace  of  God  as  represented 
by  the  altar  and  the  sacrifice  and  the  sprinkling  of  the 
blood.  Thus,  throughout  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as 
throughout  the  New,  grace  is  ever  at  the  foundation, 
and  works  are  built  upon  it ;  the  Gospel  is  the  sub- 
structure, law  is  the  superstructure.  But  besides  this 
general  truth,  observe  how  carefully  the  order  of  the 
service  is  marked.  Let  us  look  at  it.  First,  the  blood 
is  divided  into  two  portions,  one  of  which  is  set  aside 
to  be  used  in  sprinkling  the  people.  Then  Moses  pro- 
ceeds in  the  order  following :  (i)  Sprinkling  of  the  altar 
(ver.  6) ;  (2)  reading  the  book  of  the  covenant  to  the 
people  and  securing  their  assent  (ver.  7)  ;  (3)  sprinkling 
the  people  (ver.  8).  The  significance  of  this  order  will 
be  readily  seen.  As  soon  as  the  sacrifice  is  offered  the 
altar  is  sprinkled.  The  altar  is  the  meeting-place  be- 
tween God  and  His  people,  as  is  declared  in  the  first 
part  of  the  book  of  the  covenant  itself  (Exod.  xx.  24). 
S 


98  The  Mosaic  Era. 

But  God  and  the  sinner  cannot  meet  except  on  the 
ground  of  atonement,  and  so  the  altar  must  be  sprinkled 
with  the  atoning  blood  of  the  sacrifice.  As  soon  as  the 
altar  is  sprinkled  with  the  atoning  blood,  the  people  may 
meet  with  God,  and  receive  His  blessing  there.  But 
they  too  must  be  sprinkled  with  the  blood.  On  what 
condition  ?  On  condition  that  they  turn  their  backs 
on  their  old  sins,  and  set  their  faces  to  the  keeping  of 
the  holy  covenant.  Hence  the  next  thing  after  the 
sprinkling  of  the  altar,  and  before  the  sprinkling  of  the 
people,  is  to  ask  their  solemn  assent  to  the  covenant. 
And  as  soon  as  that  assent  is  given,  as  soon  as  the 
people's  will  is  surrendered  to  the  Lord,  the  blood  of 
the  sacrifice  is  sprinkled,  reconciliation  is  made,  and  the 
covenant  embraces  them  in  its  blessed  bond.  And  now 
we  can  see  very  clearly  what  was  in  the  Apostle  Peter's 
mind  when  he  speaks  of  believers  as  "  elect  according 
to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  (this  carries 
us  back  to  the  early  promises  before  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion from  bondage  began)  through  sanctification  of  the 
Spirit,  (this  leads  us  to  think  of  the  Pentecostal  day  at 
Sinai,  with  its  revelation  of  the  holy  Lord,  and  His  holy 
law)  ?into  obedience  and  sprinJding  of  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ''  (here  we  think  of  the  ratification  of  the  cove- 
nant, when  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  followed  the 
declaration  of  obedience).  It  will  be  observed,  of  course, 
that  the  obedience  is  not  the  obedience  of  fact,  which 
follows  the  blood  sprinkling,  but  the  obedience  of  heart 
and  will,  which  must  precede  it.  The  sinner  who  comes 
to  be  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  may  come 
singing, 


The  Sinai  Covenant.  99 

"  Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea, 
But  that  Thy  blood  was  shed  for  me  "  ; 

but  the  very  fact  that  he  comes  with  these  words  on 
his  lips  proves  that  already  he  has  that  obedience  of  the 
heart  and  will,  that  saying  of  "  I  come,"  which  is  the 
necessary  antecedent  even  of  the  spnnkling  of  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ.  When  the  great  sacrifice  was  offered 
up  on  Calvary,  the  altar  was  sprinkled  once  for  all ;  but 
it  is  necessary  that  we  should  be  sprinkled  with  the 
same  blood  (ver.  6)  that  we  may  become  the  people  of 
God  ;  and  all  that  is  required  in  order  to  this  is  just  the 
assent  of  the  heart,  the  surrender  of  the  will  to  Him, 
the  word  ''  O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come,"  which  carries  with 
it  the  old  declaration  of  which  that  altar  and  these  pillars 
were  the  witness  :  '^  All  that  the  Lord  hath  said  will  we 
do,  and  be  obedient." 

Before  we  leave  this  most  suggestive  service,  consider 
how  significant  it  is  that  the  book  is  laid  upon  the  altar 
and  sprinkled  with  the  blood.  There  is  a  sense  in  which 
we  are  saved  by  works,  as  the  Apostle  James  so  fully 
testifies.  But  what  kind  of  works  are  they  ?  Works 
laid  upon  the  altar  and  sprinkled  with  blood.  These 
are  the  kind  of  works  James  speaks  of  ;  very  different 
indeed  from  "  the  works  of  the  law,"  which  the  Apostle 
Paul  proves  again  and  again  to  have  no  justifying  power. 
Good  works  have  their  place  in  salvation,  their  necessary 
place,  for  they  are  indispensable.  But  that  place  is  on 
the  altar.  And  even  after  they  are  laid  there,  they 
need  to  be  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  atoning 
sacrifice. 

And  now  that  the  transaction  is  complete,  the  results 


lOD  The  Mosaic  Era. 

appear  :  "  Then  went  up  Moses,  and  Aaron,  Nadab,  and 
Abihu,  and  seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel:  and  they 
saw  the  God  of  Israel "  (ver.  9,  10).  And  not  only  did 
they  see  Him  ;  they  did  eat  and  drink  in  His  presence 
(ver.  1 1)  without  fear.  These  "  nobles  of  the  children 
of  Israel "  were  evidently  Israel's  representatives,  and 
their  feast  in  the  sacred  presence  represented  the  sacred 
and  blessed  nearness  of  all  the  people,  the  saints  who 
by  sacrifice  have  made  a  covenant  with  God  (Ps.  1.  5), 
the  ^'  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the 
Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedi- 
ence and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ." 
"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God  "  ; 
and,  far  from  trembling,  they  shall  feast  in  His  presence, 
^'  rejoicing  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 

There  is  something  sublime  and  significant  in  the  re- 
strained and  reverent  way  in  which  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  is  referred  to.  No  attempt  to  describe  the  vision 
itself,  nothing  which  could  supply  even  to  the  imagina- 
tion the  materials  for  the  construction  of  any  likeness  of 
the  Almighty.  Simply  a  suggestion,  chaste  and  yet 
glowing,  of  the  glory  "  tinder  His  feet.''  Ah,  that  is  all 
the  sinful  eye  of  man  can  see,  even  under  the  most 
favoured  conditions  here  on  earth.  But  then  may  we 
not  well  argue  that,  if  what  is  under  His  feet  suggests 
pavement  of  sapphire  and  heaven's  clearest  ethereal 
blue — if  all  that  is  most  rapturously  beautiful  in  nature 
be  only  the  tinting  of  His  footstool — what,  oh  what 
shall  be  the  glory  of  His  face,  when  we  ''  shall  see  Him 
as  H^e  is,"  and  "  be  like  Him  "  too ;  for  the  time  is  com- 
ing when,  by  the  side  of  the  "  pure  river  of  the  water  of 


The  Sinai  Covenant.  lor 

life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of 
God  and  of  the  Lamb,"  they  who  now  only  serve  and 
wait  upon  the  footstool,  "  shall  see  His  face ;  and  His 
name  shall  be  in  their  foreheads ;  and  there  shall  be  no 
night  there !  " 

But  a  greater  privilege  than  that  of  seeing  God 
upon  the  mountain  is  yet  in  store.  To  go  up  and  see 
God  on  the  mountain  is  good  ;  but  to  have  Him  come 
down  and  dwell  with  us  in  the  plain  is  better.  To  feast 
in  the  Divine  presence,  on  a  great  and  special  occasion, 
was  a  privilege  indeed  ;  but  it  is  better  still  to  have  the 
Divine  presence  on  all  occasions,  from  day  to  day,  from 
hour  to  hour  continually.  And  it  is  to  prepare  the  way 
for  this  inestimable  blessing  that  Moses  is  now  called  up 
alone  into  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Lord,  there  to 
abide  for  many  days,  during  which  he  will  receive  the 
Tabernacle  revelation,  the  substance  of  which  was  this  : 
"  Let  them  make  Me  a  sanctuary,  that  I  may  dwell 
among  them  "  (xxv.  8).  The  great  importance  and  in- 
estimable value  of  the  new  revelation  is  betokened  by 
the  glory  prelude  of  six  days  which  preceded  it  (xxiv. 
1 6),  and  the  length  of  time  that  was  occupied  in  convey- 
ing it,  the  whole  amounting  to  forty  days  and  forty  nights 
(ver.  1 8). 

This  new  and  important  revelation  we  must  leave  for 
separate  study.  But  before  we  pass  from  the  covenant 
of  which  it  was  the  consummation,  let  us  notice  the 
three  stages  of  privilege,  as  we  may  call  them,  which 
the  covenant  people  are  permitted  to  enjoy,  all  of  them 
represented  within  the  compass  of  the  chapters  before 


102  The  Mosaic  Era. 

us.  Leave  Moses  out  of  consideration  for  the  time. 
His  position  was  unique.  He  was  the  mediator  of  the 
covenant,  and  in  this  respect  a  type  of  Christ  Himself, 
and  accordingly  he  is  at  all  times  admitted  into  the 
closest  relations  with  the  God  of  Israel.  But  taking 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  we  find  them  first 
(ver.  i)  permitted  to  worship  afar  off,  as  if  God  were  in 
highest  heaven,  and  they  far  below  upon  the  earth. 
That  is  the  first  stage :  ''  O  Thou  who  dwellest  in  the 
heavens,  we  lift  our  eyes  to  Thee." 

At  that  time  the  sacrifice  was  only  in  contemplation. 
But  after  it  had  been  offered  and  the  blood  sprinkled  on 
the  altar  and  on  the  people,  the  representatives  of  the 
people  were  permitted  to  draw  near,  by  ascending  the 
mount,  where  ''they  saw  the  God  of  Israel  "  (ver.  9-1 1). 
That  is  the  second  stage  :  "  Ye  who  were  afar  off,  are 
brought  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ." 

But  this  is  not  the  consummation  yet.  The  mediator 
ascends  into  the  mount,  where  a  cloud  of  glory  receives 
him  out  of  sight  of  the  people  below  (ver.  15) ;  and  after 
forty  days  again  the  heavens  open,  and  lo,  "  the  taber- 
nacle of  God  is  with  men."  He  comes  to  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  them.  This  is  the  third  and  best  stage  of  all, 
for  now  He  comes  to  abide  with  His  people  for  ever 
(see  John  xiv.  16). 

I  need  scarcely  say  that  this  is  just  the  order  of  Chris- 
tian experience  :  First  "the  upward  glancing  of  the  eye  " 
to  heaven,  the  worship  of  the  publican  standing  afar  off, 
crying,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  Then  there 
is  the  approach  to  the  altar,  coming  to  the  cross,  and  as 


The  Sinai  Covenant.  103 

the  result,  conscious  nearness  to  God  and  joy  in  His 
presence.  But  the  experience  is  not  complete  till  from 
the  open  heaven  there  comes  the  blessed  Comforter  to 
make  His  abode  in  the  believer's  heart.  Thus  it  is  that, 
to  the  earnest  seeker,  God  reveals  Himself  as  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  at  each  successive  stage 
comes  nearer,  till  the  sacred  union  is  complete. 


VIII. 
THE  TABERNACLE  REVELATION. 

EXODUS  XXV.-XXXI. 

THE  first  thing  to  settle  in  our  minds  is  the  relation 
of  this  to  the  earlier  Sinai  revelation.  The  earlier 
one  we  have  called  the  Sinai  revelation  for  reasons 
already  given  ;  but  this  later  one  belongs  to  Sinai  also, 
for  it,  too,  was  given  from  the  sacred  mount.  And 
though  its  accompaniments  were  not  so  tremendous  and 
awe-inspiring  as  those  which  attended  the  earlier  one,  they 
w^ere  sufficiently  solemn  to  arrest  and  fix  the  attention, 
as  we  saw  at  the  close  of  last  lecture  (Exod.  xxiv.  i6- 
i8).  The  first  question  before  us  then  is,  as  to  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Tabernacle  to  the  Law. 

I.  The  later  revelation  was  the  complement  of  the 
earlier.  The  former  taught  how  very  far  off  Jehovah 
was  in  His  holiness  ;  the  latter  teaches  how  very  near 
He  is  ready  to  come  in  His  love.  Then  the  word  of  com- 
mand was :  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  that  ye  go  not 
up  into  the  mount,  or  touch  the  border  of  it :  whoso- 
ever toucheth  the  mount  shall  be  surely  put  to  death  " 
(Exod.  xix.  12).  But  now  that  the  people  have  come  to 
the  altar  with  the  appointed  sacrifice,  and  have  promised 
obedience,  and  been  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the 
offering,  the  time  has  come  for  a  new  revelation,  the 
(104) 


The  Tabernacle  Revelation.  105 

revelation  of  Love  and  Mercy.  And  now  the  word  of 
command  is :  "  Let  them  prepare  Me  a  sanctuary,  that 
I  may  dwell  among  them  "  (Exod.  xxv.  8).  Yet  the 
later  revelation  is  not  at  all  inconsistent  with  the  former ; 
for  though  He  who  formerly  warned  the  people  off,  now 
offers  to  come  and  dwell  among  them,  the  offer  is  made 
in  such  a  way  as  not  at  all  to  compromise  His  holiness  : 
"  Let  them  make  Me  a  sanctttary  (a  holy  place),  and  I 
will  dwell  among  them."  Thus  while  love  is  the  promi- 
nent feature  of  the  new  revelation,  holiness  is  not  lost 
sight  of ;  just  as  in  the  former,  while  holiness  was  promi- 
nent, love  was  by  no  means  absent,  as  we  found  when 
we  had  it  before  us.  '*  Mercy  and  truth  meet  together ; 
righteousness  and  peace  embrace  each  other  "  in  both. 

n.  The  latter  really  includes  the  earlier;  for  the 
tables  of  stone  are  to  be  deposited,  as  we  shall  see,  in 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  within  the  holy  of  holies,  the 
innermost  shrine  of  the  Tabernacle.  Thus  the  Law 
held  the  central  position  in  the  new  revelation.  And 
not  only  is  the  holy  Law  its  centre,  but  its  end ;  not 
merely  in  a  literal  sense  (Exod.  xxxi.  18),  but  in  this  re- 
gard, that  all  the  sacrifices  and  ceremonies,  symbols  and 
types  of  the  Tabernacle  service,  were  but  the  means  to 
the  attainment  of  that  ''  holiness,  without  which  no  man 
can  see  the  Lord."  Only  those  who  are  profoundly 
ignorant  of  the  Old  Testament  can  represent  the  cere- 
monial law  as  a  thing  of  form  only,  savouring  more  of 
superstition  than  of  sanctity.  Those  who  are  at  all  in- 
telligent in  the  reading  of  the  Law  cannot  fail  to  per- 
ceive that  every  part  of  it  is  directed  towards  the 
supreme  end  of  holiness,  which  is  kept  in  view  from  tlie 
5* 


io6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

very  beginning:  ''If  ye  will  obey  My  voice,  and  keep 
My  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  ...  .  holy  nation  " 
(Exod.  xix.  5,  6).  The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  a  character 
religion  throughout.  "  God  hath  called  us  unto  holi- 
ness " — through  form,  through  faith,  through  Moses, 
through  Christ  ;  but  always  to  holiness.  ''  Be  ye  holy, 
for  I  the  Lord  your  God  am  holy."  This  is  the  kernel 
of  the  Old  Testament.     It  is  also  the  core  of  the  New. 

III.  The  later  revelation  had  an  element  of  perma- 
nence in  it,  which  the  former  had  not.  The  Lord  aj?- 
pcarcd  upon  Mount  Sinai,  but  He  dzvelt  in  the  Taber- 
nacle. The  one  was  a  solemn  memory ;  the  other  a  de- 
lightful ever-present  experience.  The  people  soon  left 
Mount  Sinai ;  but  they  carried  the  Tabernacle  with  them 
wherever  they  went.  Judgment  is  the  Lord's  "  strange 
work,"  but  "  He  delighteth  in  mercy."  There  must  be 
conviction  of  sin  to  begin  with,  but  the  abiding  charac- 
teristic of  true  Christian  experience  is  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  consciously  and  happily  realized.  His  people 
need  not  remain  trembling  before  Sinai.  Only  let  them 
make  Him  a  sanctuary,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them, 
and  His  presence  will  banish  fear.  The  Comforter  wili 
"  abide  with  you  for  ever."  True,  Sinai  must  not  be  for- 
gotten ;  the  tables  of  stone  are  carried  wherever  the 
sanctuary  goes,  but  they  are  covered  with  the  mercy- 
seat  ;  and  above,  ever  open  to  view,  is  the  symbol  of  the 
gracious  loving  presence  of  the  Lord. 

So  much  for  the  relation  of  the  Tabernacle  to  the 
revelation  of  law  which  it  so  closely  follows.  And  now 
let  us  look  at  the  Tabernacle  revelation  itself.  And  here 
we  must  of  necessity  restrict  ourselves  to  its  most  gen- 


The  Tabernacle  Revelation.  107 

era!  features.  To  study  it  In  detail  would  require  a 
course  of  separate  lectures.  It  was  in  substance  a  reve- 
lation of  God's  willingness  to  dwell  with  His  people,  and 
of  the  conditions  on  which  this  great  blessing  could  be 
realized  by  them.  The  first  condition  is  their  willing- 
ness to  welcome  Him  when  He  comes.  And  accordingly 
the  first  step  is  to  give  the  people  an  opportunity  of 
showing  this  willingness.  "  Speak  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  that  they  bring  Me  an  offering:  of  every  man 
that  giveth  it  willingly  with  his  heart  ye  shall  take  My 
offering  ....  and  let  them  make  Me  a  sanctuary " 
(xxv.  1-8).  The  giving  of  the  revelation  shows  the  will- 
ingness on  God's  part :  the  offerings  of  the  people  the 
willingness  on  theirs. 

And  now  the  question  comes,  how  can  it  be  ?  "  Will 
God  in  very  deed  dwell  with  man  upon  the  earth  ?  "  Is 
there  any  way  by  which  the  Holy  One  can  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  an  unholy  people  ?  The  elaborate  details  of 
the  Tabernacle  and  its  service  was  the  answer  in  symbol 
to  this  great  question.  If  the  willingness  of  the  people 
had  been  all  that  was  necessary,  they  might  have  been 
left  to  construct  the  Tabernacle  as  they  thought  best. 
But  it  is  not  so  easy  for  the  holy  God  and  sinful  man  to 
meet  and  dwell  together.  Obstacles  must  be  removed, 
a  way  must  be  opened,  barriers  must  be  thrown  down. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  constructing  the  Tabernacle  and 
arranging  its  services  in  such  a  way  as  to  convey  in  the 
language  of  symbol  how  all  this  is  to  be  done.  ''Ac- 
cording to  all  that  I  show  thee,  after  the  pattern  of  the 
tabernacle,  and  the  pattern  of  all  the  instruments  there- 
of, even  so  shall  ye  make  it "  (ver.  9). 


io8  The  Mosaic  Era. 

And  now  as  we  are  about  to  enter  upon  the  symbolism 
of  the  Tabernacle,  it  may  be  well  to  pause  a  moment 
and  consider  how  appropriate  it  was  that  the  truth  should 
be  conveyed  in  this  way,  the  more  especially  as  there  are 
prevalent,  even  among  intelligent  persons,  many  unrea- 
sonable objections  to  this  form  of  revelation.  Consider 
first  the  much  deeper  impression  made  by  that  which  is 
addressed  to  the  eye  than  by  what  is  addressed  to  the  ear. 
Even  a  single  exhibition  of  truth  is  more  impressive  than 
a  declaration  of  it ;  how  much  more  a  perpetual  one. 
There  was  the  truth  vividly  painted  before  the  people's 
eyes  from  day  to  day,  from  year  to  year,  from  age  to 
age.  And  if  any  one  suggests  that  the  same  'result 
could  have  been  obtained  by  the  written  characters  of 
ordinary  language,  let  him  ask  first,  how  copies  enough 
could  have  been  multiplied  ;  and  next  and  more  particu- 
larly, how  many  of  the  people  in  these  early  times,  and 
in  the  infancy  of  the  nation,  could  read  and  understand 
written  characters.  And  very  little  reflection  will  show, 
not  only  that  a  series  of  pictures  was  much  better  for 
the  education  of  the  people  than  a  string  of  propositions 
could  have  been,  but  that  the  pictorial  method,  the 
method  of  symbol,  was  the  only  one  which  met  the 
.necessities  of  the  case. 

.Seeing  then  that  a  symbolic  exhibition  of  the  truth 
was  called  for,  the  question  arises  whether  the  symbols 
employed  should  be  new  or  old.  A  moment's  considera- 
tion will  decide  the  question ;  for  manifestly  the  more 
familiar  the  symbols  were  to  the  people,  the  better  would 
they  be  adapted  for  conveying  ideas  to  their  minds. 
And  yet  great  objections  have  been  taken  on  the  ground 


The  Tabernacle  Revelation.  109 

that  the  symbolic  language  of  the  Tabernacle  is  found 
to  be  Egyptian  in  Its  origin  !  Of  course  it  was.  Had 
not  these  people  been  in  Egypt  all  their  lives  ?  Where 
else  then  could  familiar  illustrations  be  found  than  in 
Egypt  ?  If  new  symbols  had  been  invented,  entirely 
apart  from  all  their  old  Egyptian  associations,  a  special 
miracle  would  have  been  necessary  to  enable  them  to 
understand  the  new  language.  These  objectors  have  not 
the  common  sense  to  distinguish  between  ideas  and  the 
language  in  which  they  are  expressed,  between  thoughts 
and  words,  between  things  and  the  signs  that  represent 
them.  On  the  same  principle  there  should  be  exception 
taken  to  the  use  of  the  Greek  language  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, for  is  not  every  word  in  it  a  symbol  of  Greek 
origin  ?  The  language  of  the  New  Testament  is  Greek; 
but  the  thoughts  are  far  beyond  anything  the  Greek 
mind  ever  conceived  ;  and  In  the  same  way,  though  the 
language  of  the  Tabernacle  is  Egyptian,  the  truth  con- 
veyed by  its  symbolic  language  is  far  above  anything 
that  ever  entered  the  mind  of  old  Egypt.  And  if 
any  one  says  It  was  unworthy  of  God  to  make  use  of 
symbols  that  had  been  stained  by  their  connection  with 
Egyptian  Idolatry  and  wickedness,  is  it  not  manifest  that 
the  same  objection  lies  against  all  language  ?  Take  the 
p-randest  sentence  in  the  New  Testament  as  an  illustra- 
tlon :  "  God  Is  Love."  Think  what  abominations  were 
connected  with  that  word  Love  In  its  Greek  associa- 
tions ;  but  what  else  could  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment do  than  take  the  old  familiar  though  degraded 
word,  and  convert  it,  so  to  speak,  baptizing  It  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  so  as  to  make 


no  The  Mosaic  Era. 

it  a  fitting  symbol  for  the  queen  of  all  the  heavenly 
graces,  and  even  a  fitting  term  to  designate  the  nature 
of  God  Himself.  Suppose  the  Apostle  Paul  had  said  : 
"  That  word  has  been  so  defiled  by  contact  with  sin  that 
we  cannot  use  it.  Let  us  invent  a  new  one."  Who 
would  have  understood  the  new  word?  He  would  have 
had  it  all  to  himself.  And  even  the  Greek  Oeo?  itself, 
had  it  not  been  applied  to  Zeus  and  to  Dionysos,  and  all 
the  gods  of  the  Greek  Pantheon,  some  of  them  monsters 
of  depravity  ?  And  yet  it  is  the  only  word  which  can 
be  used  to  designate  the  One  living  and  true  God. 
Why  ?  Simply  because  when  language  of  any  kind  is 
used,  it  must  be  such  as  the  people  to  whom  it  is  ad- 
dressed can  understand.  And  so,  instead  of  finding  any 
difficulty  in  the  acknowledged  Egyptian  origin  of  these 
symbols,  it  is  the  very  thing  we  must  expect ;  and  herein 
we  have  another  evidence  of  the  genuineness  and  anti- 
quity of  the  Pentateuch.  The  close  connection  between 
the  symbolic  language  of  the  Tabernacle  and  the  sym- 
bolism of  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  shows  that  the 
Tabernacle  revelation  must  have  been  given  immediately 
after  the  Exodus,  and  could  not  have  come  through 
more  likely  hands  than  his,  "who  was  learned  in  all  the 
wisdom  of  the  Egyptians."  It  is,  in  fact,  an  evidence  of 
date  of  the  same  kind  as  the  use  of  Hellenistic  Greek  in 
the  New  Testament. 

Still  another  objection  must  be  considered  before  leav- 
ing the  form  of  the  Tabernacle  revelation,  the  objection 
founded  on  the  supposed  difficulty  of  understanding  the 
symbols.  Now  it  is  true  that  the  Western  mind  needs 
some  training  in  order  readily  to  understand  Oriental 


The  Tabernacle  Revelation.  hi 

symbolism.  But  is  this  to  be  wondered  at?  Our  famil- 
iarity with  the  abstractions  of  a  highly-developed  lan- 
guage, unfits  us  for  readily  comprehending  the  simple 
and  primitive  language  of  signs.  It  is  not  our  mother- 
tongue  :  but  it  was  theirs.  For  the  same  reason  that 
even  the  little  children  in  France  speak  French,  which 
may  excite  the  wonder  of  a  very  ignorant  person,  these 
children  of  Israel  would  understand  in  a  moment  many 
things  which  we  need  to  investigate  before  we  under- 
stand. The  Tabernacle  revelation  then  was  quite  com- 
prehensible to  those  to  whom  it  was  first  addressed;  and 
it  is  quite  comprehensible  to  us  too,  if  we  will  only  apply 
ourselves  to  the  study  of  it.  The  symbols  used  are 
largely  natural,  as,  for  instance,  the  use  of  white  for 
purity,  gold  for  value,  etc.  ;  and  so  far  as  they  are  artifi- 
cial, the  key  may  be  found  somewhere  in  the  Scriptures. 
And  even  the  oldest  among  us  and  most  accustomed  to 
dealing  with  abstract  truth,  will  find  it  of  advantage  to 
study  these  old  object  lessons,  these  pictorial  illustra- 
tions of  Divine  truth,  for  our  own  instruction  and  edifi- 
cation. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Tabernacle  was  ''the  tent  of  meet- 
ing"- between  God  and  man,  there  were  two  sides  of 
truth  expressed  in  its  symbols,  the  Divine  side  and  the 
human  side,  the  one  showing  with  what  rich  liberality 
God  comes  to  meet  man,  the  other  showing  with  what 
holy  carefulness  man  must  draw  near  to  God.  Some- 
times the  same  symbol  will  have  truth  to  tell  on  both 


*  This  is  the  proper  rendering,  and  not  as  in  our  version,  "  taber- 
1  acle  of  the  con  gre  gat  ion."     See  Exod.  xxix.  42,  43. 


112  The  Mosaic  Era. 

sides,  as,  for  instance,  the  table  of  shewbread,  which,  in 
one  aspect,  represents  the  rich  provision  God  makes  for 
His  people  in  His  house:  and  in  another,  the  fruits  of 
righteousness  which  His  people  must  present  to  Him. 
But  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  even  when  we  give  to 
the  Lord,  it  is  always  of  His  own  we  give  to  Him,  there 
will  be  no  confusion  in  the  twofold  application  of  such 
symbols,  and  our  minds  will  readily  take  hold  of  that 
side  of  the  truth  which  is  germane  to  the  general  subject 
under  consideration. 

The  order  of  the  symbols  is  different  in  the  chapters 
before  us  from  that  which  we  find  in  the  later  part  of 
the  book  (xxxv.-xl.)  when  the  Tabernacle  was  actually 
made.  And  a  careful  consideration  of  the  two  arrange- 
ments would  suggest  that,  while  the  latter  was  the  order 
in  which  the  work  was  actually  done,  the  former  is  the 
order  which  has  greater  significance  in  regard  to  the 
truth  to  be  unfolded.  Hence  the  special  value  of  the 
chapters  before  us  for  getting  a  correct  view  of  the  most 
general  features  of  the  Tabernacle  revelation.  To  this 
task  we  now  address  ourselves.  And  here  we  shall  find 
three  leading  thoughts. 

The  first  is  the  central  position  of  the  Law.  "  They 
shall  make  Me  an  ark,  ....  and  shall  put  into  it  the 
testimony"  (xxv.  10-16).  Why  is  the  enshrining  of  the 
law  the  first  thing  ?  Is  it  on  the  ground  of  the  law  that 
God  and  man  are  to  meet  ?  Evidently  not,  for  while 
the  tables  of  stone  are  to  be  placed  in  the  ark,  they  are 
to  be  covered  with  the  mercy-seat,  and  tJicre  it  is  (ver. 
22)  that  the  meeting  between  God  and  man  must  be. 
What  then  is  meant  by  the  prominent  place  given  to 


The  Tabernacle  Revelation.  113 

the  law  ?  Is  it  not  this,  that  while  one  cannot  draw 
near  to  God  except  through  mercy  which  forgives  the 
transgression  of  the  law,  yet  he  may  and  must  come 
with  an  earnest  desire  and  purpose  to  keep  the  law. 
He  may  come  without  any  righteousness  of  his  own, 
but  not  without  "hunger  and  thirst"  after  righteous- 
ness, not  without  that  spirit  which  will  lead  him  to  put 
the  law  of  God  in  the  most  sacred  place,  and  surround 
it  with  proofs  of  highest  appreciation,  as  suggested  in 
these  directions :  ''  Thou  shalt  overlay  it  with  pure 
gold,  within  and  without  shalt  thou  overlay  it,  and 
shalt  make  upon  it  a  crown  of  gold  round  about " 
(ver  11). 

Observe  carefully  that  the  tables  of  stone  are  not  at 
the  threshold  ;  they  are  in  the  inmost  shrine.  If  they 
had  been  at  the  threshold,  the  thought  would  have 
been  :  ''  keep  the  law,  and  you  will  have  the  privilege 
of  meeting  with  God."  But  being  in  the  inmost  shrine, 
the  very  last  thing  that  one  would  reach  who  entered 
by  the  door,  the  thought  is  not,  "  keep  the  law  and  God 
will  let  you  in  "  ;  but,  ''  come  in  and  God  will  give  you 
grace  to  keep  the  law."  Grace  first,  goodness  afterwards, 
as  always.  And  yet,  though  last  in  one  sense,  it  is  first 
in  another,  for  it  is  the  goal  towards  which  every  step 
of  the  worshipper  is  directed  ;  and  the  first  thing  a  run- 
ner must  do  is  to  fix  his  eye  upon  the  goal.  Thus  the 
law  is  the  first  for  the  eyes  and  the  last  for  the  feet ;  the 
first  as  an  object  of  desire,  the  last  as  an  object  of  at- 
tainment. Even  a  sinner  may  make  a  gold  casket  and 
a  golden  crown  for  the  law  (how  many  are  there,  for  in- 
stance, that  can  crown  with  their  admiration  the  Sermon 


114  The  Mosaic  Era. 

on  the  Mount,  who  are  very  far  from  keeping  it) ;  but  if 
he  would  learn  to  keep  it  perfectly,  he  must  betake  him- 
self to  the  mercy-seat  in  the  appointed  way,  and  avail 
himself  of  the  rich  provision  which  God  has  for  him  in 
His  house. 

Thus  we  reach  the  second  leading  thought  of  the 
Tabernacle  revelation  :  the  rich  provision  God  has  for 
those  who  come  before  Him,  hungering  and  thirsting 
after  righteousness.  This  is  set  forth  very  delightfully 
in  the  next  four  items. 

The  first  is  the  mercy-seat  (ver.  17-21).  "  Mercy  to 
pardon  "  is  the  first  thing.  While  the  law  is  the  end  on 
which  the  eye  must  be  ever  fixed,  mercy  is  the  path  that 
the  feet  must  tread  to  reach  the  goal. 

The  next  is  a  table  on  which  there  is  a  perpetual  sup- 
ply of  bread  (ver.  23-30).  The  best  commentary  on  this 
part  of  the  Tabernacle  revelation  are  our  Lord's  own 
words  concerning  the  "  bread  of  life,"  with  which  God 
supplies  the  wants  of  those  who  come  to  the  mercy-seat, 
who  believe  on  His  Son  (John  vi.) 

After  the  table  comes  the  lamp  (ver.  31-40).  After 
life,  comes  light.  And  again,  the  best  commentary  is  to 
be  found  in  the  8th  and  9th  chapters  of  the  same  Gospel, 
where  we  have  our  Lord's  own  teaching  concerning  the 
light  provided  for  the  world  in  the  Father's  house,  of 
which  the  light  provided  for  Israel  in  the  Tabernacle 
was  a  feeble  type.  *'  In  Him  was  life  ;  and  the  life  was 
the  light  of  men." 

Then  there  is  a  place  in  the  Father's  house  (chap. 
xxvl.)  This  chapter  gives  directions  for  the  Tabernacle 
itself,  Its  external  walls,  with  its  curtains  and  divisions. 


The  Tabernacle  Revelation.  115 

There  are  here  many  details  of  special  interest,  but  we 
can  only  refer  to  the  general  idea,  which  is  quite  appa- 
rent. The  walls  were  made  of  forty-eight  standing 
boards  or  pillars.  Here  we  have  the  same  idea  as  in 
the  twenty-fourth  chapter,  where  the  twelve  pillars  were 
erected  around  a  central  altar,  the  pillars  representing 
the  tribes.  More  than  twelve  are  needed  now  to  enclose 
the  entire  space  and  make  a  continuous  wall,  but  the 
significant  number  is  still  retained  by  taking  a  convenient 
multiple,  four  times  twelve.  Thus  the  very  construction 
of  the  Tabernacle  or  tent  of  meeting  symbolized  the 
union  of  God  and  His  people,  and  the  privilege  which 
they  enjoyed  of  being  pillars  in  His  house.  It  will  of 
course  be  at  once  perceived  that  we  have  only  for  the 
boards  of  the  Tabernacle  to  put  the  stones  of  the  Tem- 
ple, in  order  to  trace  the  development  of  that  familiar 
image  which  appears  so  often  in  the  New  Testament  in 
forms  like  this  :  "  To  whom  coming,  as  unto  a  living 
stone  ....  ye  also,  as  lively  stones,  are  built  up  a 
spiritual  house  "  (i  Pet.  ii.  4,  5).  This  fourfold  blessing 
is  the  second  of  the  three  leading  thoughts. 

The  third  and  last  is  the  way  in  which  the  people  are 
to  come  when  they  draw  near  to  God.  They  must  come 
by  the  way  of  the  altar  (chap,  xxvii.)  which  is  to  be 
erected  in  the  outer  court— through  a /r^V.?///^^^  (xxviii.), 
who  are  to  be  consecrated  for  the  purpose — and  with  the 
appointed  sacrifices  (xxix.)  Here  again,  the  details  are 
full  of  interest  ;  and  the  space  given  to  this  whole  sub- 
ject, covering  these  three  long  chapters,  indicates  its  vast 
importance  ;  but  as  we  shall  have  it  fully  before  us  in 
our  future  study,  especially  in  the  book  of  Leviticus,  we 


ii6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

do  not  dwell  upon  It  now.  All  we  notice  at  present  is, 
that  however  necessary  the  desire  to  keep  the  law,  and 
however  free  the  mercy-seat  with  all  its  sacred  accom- 
paniments of  blessing,  there  could  be  no  approach  to 
the  inner  shrine  without  an  altar,  a  priest,  and  a  sacrifice 
— all  according  to  the  Divine  appointment.  There  must 
be  not  only  longing  for  future  holiness  in  the  people's 
hearts,  but  also  atonement  for  past  sin  on  their  behalf, 
before  the  hallowed  meeting  can  take  place.  But  as 
soon  as  the  appointed  priest  has  offered  the  appointed 
sacrifice  upon  the  appointed  altar  on  Israel's  behalf,  the 
obstacle  is  removed  and  the  promise  can  be  fulfilled 
(xxix.  43,  46). 

And  yet  this  is  not  all.  There  is  also  the  incense,  and 
the  laver,  and  the  holy  anointing  oil  (xxx.)  The  signifi- 
cance of  these  symbols  is  very  clear.  '^  Let  vixy  prayer 
come  before  Thee  as  incense," — the  fragrant  breath  of 
the  new  life  which  has  just  been  kindled  at  the  altar. 
The  laver  provides  that  wasJdng  from  daily  stains  which 
even  those  need  who  have  been  already  purged,  by  the 
blood  of  the  atoning  sacrifice,  from  the  guilt  and  con- 
demnation of  sin  (see  John  xiii.  10  compared  with  Exod. 
xxx.  19).  Then  the  holy  anointing  oil,  compounded  of 
its  rare,  costly,  and  fragrant  ingredients,  evidently  repre- 
sents the  positive  gi'accs  of  the  Christian  character,  which 
will  exhale  from  the  renewed  life  of  those  who  have 
come  to  God  by  the  way  of  the  altar  and  the  laver  with- 
out, and  the  golden  altar  within. 

And  now  do  we  not  see  how  suggestive  of  important 
truth  is  the  very  order  in  which  these  details  were  given 
to  Moses  at  the  first  ?  Those  who  look  more  at  the  let- 
ter than  the  spirit  have  found  a  difficulty  in  v.hat  seemed 


The  Tabernacle  Revelation.  117 

to  them  the  strange  arrangement,  beginning  first  with 
the  inner  apartment,  then  taking  a  portion  of  the  furni- 
ture of  the  outer  apartment,  then  giving  directions  for 
the  walls  and  the  curtains,  afterwards  taking  the  altar  in 
the  court,  and  thereafter  coming  back  again  to  the  altar 
of  incense  within,  and  once  more  going  out  to  the  court 
again  where  the  laver  stood,  and  finishing  with  so  small 
a  matter  as  the  anointing  oil.  It  seemed  all  confusion. 
And  so  it  is  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  carpenter  or 
builder.  But  when  we  look  at  it,  not  in  a  mechanical, 
but  in  a  spiritual  point  of  view,  we  see  a  singular  beauty 
in  the  order,  each  part  leading  on  to  the  next  in  the 
gradual  unfolding  of  the  great  truths  which  were  in- 
folded in  the  Tabernacle  revelation. 

And  after  Bezaleel,  and  Aholiab,  and  their  assistants 
have  been  called  to  the  work  (xxxi.  1-12),  the  entire 
revelation  appropriately  concludes  with  a  re-enactment  of 
the  Sabbath  law  in  a  new  aspect  as  a  sign  (ver.  12-17). 
"  It  is  a  sign  between  Me  and  you  throughout  your 
generations"  (ver.  13).  "It  is  a  sign  between  Me  and 
the  children  of  Israel  for  ever."  And  was  it  not  so  ? 
And  is  not  the  same  sign  as  decisive  as  ever  ?  Tell  me 
how  a  Christian  spends  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  I 
will  tell  you  what  a  kind  of  a  Christian  he  is.  If  any 
man  really  remembers  God's  day  to  keep  it  holy,  he  is 
not  likely  to  forget  the  need  of  the  altar,  the  priest,  and 
the  sacrifice,  or  any  of  the  important  elements  of  a 
Christian  life.  But  if  you  disregard  the  Lord's  day  and 
allow  its  sacred  opportunities  to  pass  without  improve- 
ment, it  is  too  evident  that  you  are  letting  all  these 
things  slip  from  you.  The  keeping  of  the  Lord's  day  is 
a  sign  between  you  and  Him. 


IX. 

LAPSE  AND  RESTORATION. 

EXODUS  XXXII. -XXXIX. 

THE  twofold  revelation  from  Mount  Sinai  is  now 
completed,  and  nothing  remains  but  to  carry  it 
into  effect ;  and  accordingly  Moses  is  about  to  descend 
to  make  the  necessary  preparations  for  receiving  the 
Holy  One  who  has  promised  to  come  and  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  Israel. 

But,  alas !  instead  of  an  expectant  people,  eager  to 
welcome  the  new  revelation  from  the  mountain  top,  and 
ready  to  do  all  that  is  asked  of  them,  the  disappointed 
leader  finds  Israel  in  open  rebellion,  gathered  round  a 
golden  image — worshipping  a  calf !  Here  is  an  obstacle 
that  threatens  to  ruin  all. 

Some  have  difficulty  in  realizing  the  possibility  of 
such  a  lapse  in  so  short  a  time.  But  the  difficulty  arises 
chiefly  from  a  misapprehension  of  the  nature  of  the 
offence.  It  was  not  apostasy  in  the  most  aggravated 
sense.  It  was  not  the  substitution  of  a  calf  for  the  God 
of  Sinai.  The  calf  was  intended,  not  as  a  substitute,  but 
as  a  symbol  of  Jehovah,  as  is  evident  from  Aaron's  pro- 
clamation, ''to-morrow  is  a  feast  to  the  Lord''  (ver.  5). 
The  plural  form  in  ver.  4,  ''These  be  thy  gods,"  is  mis- 
(118) 


Lapse  and  Restoration.  119 

leading,  suggesting  as  it  does  that  they  had  abandoned 
the  one  God  of  Israel  for  the  many  gods  of  the  heathen. 
It  only  needs  to  be  remembered  that  the  plural  form  of 
the  word  is  regularly  applied  to  God,  as  the  plural  of 
excellence  (a  familiar  idiom  of  the  Hebrew  language),  to 
see  that  Aaron  meant  through  the  calf  as  a  symbol  to 
direct  the  thoughts  of  the  people  to  their  unseen  God : 
*'  This  is  thy  God,  O  Israel,  which  brought  thee  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt."  It  was  in  fact  a  breach,  not  of  the 
first,  but  of  the  second  commandment.  This  was  bad 
enough,  especially  in  view  of  the  explicitness  and  em- 
phasis of  the  terms  in  which  the  commandment  was 
couched  ;  but  it  no  longer  is  impossible  to  see  how  they 
could  have  fallen  into  the  sin.  Egyptian  influences  and 
associations  must  still  have  had  a  very  strong  hold  upon 
them  ;  and  forty  days  was  a  long  time  to  wait  without 
any  visible  sign  or  token.  This  is  manifestly  no  excuse, 
but  it  helps  us  to  understand  how  the  people  were 
tempted  to  try  the  virtue  of  the  Egyptian  Apis  worship, 
with  which  they  had  all  been  familiar  from  their  infancy. 
As  for  Aaron's  part  in  it,  it  seems  to  be  most  easily  ex- 
plained on  the  supposition  that  while  in  his  heart  he 
utterly  disapproved,  he  had  not  courage  to  resist  the 
popular  demand,  and  so,  timidly  complied.  This  is 
Aaron's  own  account  of  the  matter  at  all  events  (ver. 
22),  and  we  ought  in  chanty  to  accept  it.  But  after  all, 
why  should  we  be  so  very  much  astonished  at  the 
iniquity  and  folly  of  the  children  of  Israel,  when  we  are 
so  familiar  with  a  sin  sadly  prevalent  among  ourselves, 
so  similar  to  theirs  that  it  can  be  plainly  indicated  in 
the  very  words   of  Moses  on  this   occasion  :  "  Oh,  this 


I20  The  Mosaic  Era. 

people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have  made  them  a 
God— of  Gold  !  " 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  Josephus,  the  Jewish 
historian,  omits  all  reference  to  this  disgraceful  lapse."" 
This  proves  on  the  one  hand  that,  trustworthy  as  Jose- 
phus is  in  the  main,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  omit  impor- 
tant facts  when  they  do  not  suit  his  purpose  ;  and  there- 
fore we  need  not  at  all  wonder  at  those  omissions  of 
important  facts  in  the  time  of  our  Lord,  which  it  did 
not  suit  him  to  record,  nor  be  moved  by  the  infidel  ob- 
jections which  have  nothing  else  than  these  omissions  to 
rest  upon.  And  on  the  other  hand  we  have  an  incidental 
confirmation  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Pentateuch,  in  that 
we  find  so  faithfully  recorded,  events  that  an  uninspired 
historian  would  have  been  tempted  to  omit  or  to  slur  over. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  soon  as  he  came  nigh  unto 
the  camp  and  saw  the  calf  and  the  dancing,  that  Moses' 
anger  waxed  hot,  and  he  cast  the  tables  out  of  his  hands 
and  brake  them  beneath  the  mount."  This  was  evi- 
dently no  "  loss  of  temper,"  but  righteous  indignation  ; 
and  the  breaking  of  the  tables  was  a  solemn  token  that 
the  covenant  was  broken  and  all  its  blessings  forfeited. 
The  grinding  dovv^n  of  the  calf,  and  mixing  it  with  the 
water  the  people  had  to  drink,  showed  his  contempt  for 
their  idol,  and  taught  them  that  they  must  "  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  their  own  ways  and  be  filled  with  their  own  de- 
vices." And  the  slaying  of  the  three  thousand  com- 
pleted the  lesson,  by  showing  that  loss  of  blessing,  and 
the  punishment  which  sin  brings  with  it,  do  not  exhaust 


*  See  Antiq.,  III.  v.  7. 


Lapse  and  Restoration.  121 

the  penalty  of  such  wickedness,  but  that  positive  inflic- 
tion of  the  severest  kind  must  follow.  In  all  sin  there 
is  great  loss  ;  besides  this,  every  sin  brings  its  own  pun- 
is'iment  with  it  ;  and  yet  this  is  not  all,  for  "  the  soul 
that  sinneth  it  must  die."  A  solemn  and  most  memo- 
rable lesson  for  these  times,  in  which  it  has  become  the 
fashion  to  treat  sin  as  if  it  were  of  little  consequence, 
and  to  commend  those  who  ''heal  the  hurt  of  it  slightly, 
saying,  '  peace,  peace,'  when  there  is  no  peace." 

There  are  those  who  raise  an  outcry  against  what  they 
call  the  cruelty  of  this  infliction.  But  consider  first, 
that  it  was  a  case  of  high-handed  rebellion  of  an  entire 
people ;  and  how  few  great  rebellions  in  history  have 
been  quelled  with  so  slight  a  loss.  Consider  next  that 
an  opportunity  was  given  to  all  to  repent,  by  the  call, 
"who  is  on  the  Lord's  side?"  There  was  no  reason, 
save  their  obstinacy  in  sin,  why  anyone  should  continue 
in  rebellion  after  that  call.  Consider  lastly,  that  no  hurt 
was  done  to  those  who  chose  to  remain  quietly  in  their 
tents.  Those  who  were  on  the  Lord's  side  were  to  go 
"  from  gate  to  gate  throughout  the  camp,"  and  though 
they  were  not  to  spare  any  on  the  ground  of  acquaint- 
anceship or  kinship,  it  is  very  certain  that  only  those 
who  had  hardened  their  hearts  against  the  Lord  would 
fall  victims  to  the  avenging  sword  of  the  Levite. 

And  now  what  is  the  condition  of  affairs  ?     Is  there 

any  hope  for  the  future?     The  tables  are  broken.     The 

Tabernacle  revelation  is  set  aside.     And  it  would  seem 

as  if  the  only  way  now  of  fulfilling  the  promise  made 

of  old  to  Abraham,  is  to  destroy  the  people  and  choose 

Moses — 

"Among  the  faithless,  faithful  only  he," 


122  The  Mosaic  Era. 

as  a  new  head  of  a  great  nation  (see  ver.  lo).  But 
though  the  people  have  forfeited  all  claim  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promise,  "  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  endureth  " 
still,  and  the  resources  of  His  grace  are  unexhausted. 
Moses  himself  steps  in  as  mediator  of  the  covenant, 
and  through  his  mediation  a  free  pardon  is  obtained, 
and  the  covenant  renewed.  The  whole  transaction  is  so 
striking  and  so  significant,  as  well  as  so  beautifully  illus- 
trative of  the  exalted  character  of  Moses,  that  we  must 
dwell  on  it  a  little. 

In  Galatians  iii.  19,  we  read  that  the  law  ''was  ordain- 
ed of  angels  in  tJic  Jiand  of  a  mediator T  The  mediatorial 
work  of  Moses  really  began  when  the  people  in  fear  ex- 
claimed, "  let  not  God  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die."  "  Go 
thou  near  and  hear  all  that  the  Lord  our  God  shall  say : 
and  speak  thou  unto  us  all  that  the  Lord  our  God  shall 
speak  unto  thee"  (Exod.  xx.  19;  Deut.  v.  27).  But  it 
reaches  its  culmination  in  the  scenes  recorded  in  the 
chapter  before  us ;  and  accordingly  this  is  the  best  time 
to  consider  the  subject  of  his  mediatorship. 

As  we  do  so,  it  will  be  well  to  keep  in  mind  the  com- 
parison with  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  Mediator  of  the  new 
covenant,  to  which  we  are  invited  again  and  again  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (see  Heb.  viii.  6;  iii.  i,  2).  In 
the  latter  passage  the  mediatorial  work  is  divided  into 
its  two  parts :  "  Consider  the  Apostle  and  High-Priest 
of  our  profession,  who  was  faithful,  as  Moses  was."  A 
mediator  is  one  who  comes  between  God  and  man.  He 
may  come  from  God  to  man,  thus  acting  for  God  in  the 
presence  of  man.  Or  he  may  go  from  man  to  God,  thus 
acting  for  man  in  the  presence  of  God.     The  former  is 


Lapse  and  Restoration.  123 

the  work  of  the  Apostle.  The  latter  is  the  work  of  the 
High-Priest.  When  Christ  came  from  heaven  to  earth 
He  came  as  an  Apostle.  When  He  returned  to  His 
Father  through  the  gate  of  suffering  and  death,  He  went 
as  "  the  High  Priest  of  our  profession."  So  in  the  same 
way,  when  Moses  came  down  from  Mount  Sinai  bearing 
the  message  of  God  to  the  people,  he  was  the  apostle. 
When  he  went  into  the  presence  of  God  to  intercede  on 
Israel's  behalf,  he  was  the  high-priest  of  the  old  cove- 
nant. For  we  must  remember  that  as  yet  no  separate 
appointment  of  a  priesthood  had  been  made.  Moses 
still  united  in  his  own  person  all  the  different  offices, 
which  seems  to  be  the  meaning  in  the  passage  of  the 
Epistle  we  have  been  quoting,  which  speaks  of  Moses 
as  "  faithful  in  all  his  house.''  Aaron  was  among  the 
sinners  at  this  time,  of  whom  indeed  he  was  chief. 
Moses  was  the  priest,  who  went  up  to  the  mount  on  his 
behalf  and  on  behalf  of  all  the  people,  to  procure  a  par- 
don for  them,  and  a  renewal  of  those  blessings  which 
they  had  lost  by  their  fall. 

Now  observe  the  different  stages  in  his  mediatorial 
work  as  intercessor.  His  intercession  begins  before  he 
leaves  the  mount  to  come  down  among  the  people. 
There,  in  the  heavenly  place,  he  learns  of  the  people's 
sin,  and  though  a  way  is  open  to  him  of  getting  rid  of 
his  troublesome  charge,  and  securing  for  himself  all  the 
blessings  which  had  been  intended  for  them,  he  does  not 
think  of  it  for  one  moment,  but  pours  out  his  heart  in 
earnest  entreaty  in  behalf  of  the  people,  reminding  the 
Lord  of  His  mercy  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and 
His  promise  to  their  seed,  and  of  the  occasion  for  boast- 


134  The  Mosaic  Era. 

ing  which  would  be  given  to  the  Egyptians  and  all  the 
enemies  of  God  and  His  people  when  they  should  hear 
of  their  destruction  in  the  wilderness  (ver.  11-13).  Ob- 
serve that  he  does  not  offer  any  excuse  for  the  people, 
or  any  extenuation  of  their  sin.  Nor  does  he  make  any 
promises  on  their  behalf  for  the  future.  He  casts  him- 
self simply  on  the  Divine  mercy  and  grace,  and  keeps 
his  eye  fixed  on  the  Divine  glory.  A  perfect  model  of 
intercession.  And  here  it  is  beautiful  to  contrast  his 
tenderness  in  the  presence  of  God  with  his  courage  and 
uncompromising  severity  in  presence  of  the  people.  A 
weak  man  would  have  expressed  indignation  in  presence 
of  the  offended  party,  and  said  as  little  as  possible  in 
presence  of  the  offenders.  But  Moses,  true  type  of  the 
great  Intercessor  as  he  was,  w^as  all  tenderness  towards 
the  people  in  presence  of  their  offended  Lord  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  all  faithfulness  to  his  Lord  in  presence  of 
the  offending  people.  The  Lord  Jesus  came  down  to 
earth  with  just  as  much  tenderness  in  His  heart,  and  yet 
He  could  as  sternly  denounce  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
of  His  day,  as  Moses  did  the  leaders  of  the  apostasy, 
when  he  came  down  from  the  mount  where  he  had  been 
pleading  so  earnestly  on  their  behalf. 

Look  now  at  the  second  stage  of  the  intercession. 
Having  done  everything  that  was  necessary  to  convince 
the  people  of  their  sin  and  lead  them  to  repentance,  he 
goes  back  again  to  the  mount,  saying  to  the  people  : 
''  Ye  have  sinned  a  great  sin  ;  peradventure  I  shall  make 
an  atonement  for  your  sin"  (ver.  30).  And  when  he 
goes,  he  shows  his  readiness  to  lay  down  his  life  for 
them  :  ''  Yet  now,  if  Thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin —  ;  and 


Lapse  and  Restoration.  125 

if  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  Thee,  out  of  Thy  book  which 
Thou  hast  written."  This  is,  we  beheve,  the  very  near- 
est that  any  mortal  man  has  ever  come  to  the  sublime 
self-sacrifice  of  the  High-Priest  of  our  profession,  who 
w^ent  back  to  His  Father  resolved  (without  the  "  perad- 
venture")to  make  an  atonement  for  His  people's  sin; 
who  not  only  showed  His  willingness  to  sacrifice  His 
life,  but  actually  did  sacrifice  it  for  them.* 

There  is  still  a  third  stage  in  the  intercession  of  Moses. 
So  far,  the  forgiveness  and  restoration  are  only  partial. 
The  promise  which  had  been  made  in  the  book  of  the 
covenant  (xxiii.  23)  is  renewed  (xxxiii.  2) ;  but  the  Taber- 
nacle revelation  is  withdrawn.  An  angel  is  to  go  before 
them.  But  God  will  not  now  dwell  among  them.  This 
explains  verse  4 :  "  When  the  people  heard  these  evil 
tidings,  they  mourned."  It  was  not,  of  course,  that  the 
going  of  the  angel  before  them  was  ''  evil  tidings,"  but 
that  that  was  all.  An  angel  before  them  was  good,  but 
it  was  a  poor  substitute  for  God  in  the  midst  of  them. 

What,  then,  does  Moses  do  ?    ''  He  took  the  tentf  (to 


*  It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  we  do  not  suppose  the  book  of  life 
t  J  mean  the  book  of  eternal  life.  We  understand  it  rather  as  a  re- 
ference to  the  custom  of  keeping  a  register  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
place,  from  which  the  names  of  those  who  die  are  removed.  It  is 
his  readiness  to  die  for  the  people,  and  not  to  be  lost  for  ever,  that 
we  are  to  understand.  And  yet  we  must  remember  that  there  is  no 
necessity  for  settling  definitely  what  was  in  the  mind  of  Moses  when 
he  used  the  expression.  It  was  no  matter  of  calculation  as  to  how 
much  he  was  wiUing  to  suffer  or  to  lose.  He  simply  felt  as  if  he  would 
suffer  anything,  lose  all,  rather  than  that  the  people  should  be  cut  off. 

t  Much  unnecessary  difficulty  has  been  made  here  by  the  use  of 
the  word  "  tabernacle,"  when  manifestly  the  Tabernacle  was  not  in 
existence.    But  it  is  not  the  technical  word  for  the  tabernacle  that  is 


126  The  Mosaic  Era. 

which  the  people  had  been  wont  to  resort  when  they  had 
any  matter  to  bring  before  him),  and  pitched  it  without 
the  camp,  afar  off  from  the  camp,  and  called  it  the  tent 
of  meeting  "  (ver.  7).  Had  it  not  been  for  the  people's 
sin,  they  might  have  had  the  Tabernacle  which  the  Lord 
had  described,  made  and  set  up  in  the  midst  of  them ; 
but  now  that  could  not  be.  But  though  the  Lord  can- 
not come  into  the  midst  of  them  now,  may  it  not  be 
possible  to  give  an  opportunity  to  those  who  are  thor- 
oughly repentant,  of  showing  their  repentance,  by  leav- 
ing the  scene  of  their  sin  and  going  afar  off  without  the 
camp  to  meet  the  Lord  ?  This,  we  believe,  was  the  idea 
in  Moses'  mind  when  he  took  this  tent  and  called  it  (evi- 
dently showing  that  it  had  not  been  so  regarded  before) 
the  tent  of  meeting.  And  accordingly  we  read  that  "  it 
came  to  pass  that  every  one  which  sought  the  Lord, 
went  out  unto  the  tent  of  meeting  which  was  without 
the  camp  "  (ver.  7,  close).  The  deep  interest  which  the 
people  took  is  further  manifested  by  the  eagerness  with 
which  their  eyes  followed  Moses,  and  their  reverent  atti- 
tude at  the  time  he  entered  into  the  tent  (ver.  8) ;  and 
we  can  well  imagine  what  a  comfort  it  would  be  to  ob- 
serve the  token  of  approval  which  the  Lord  at  once  so 
kindly  gave  by  the  descent  of  the  cloud  pillar  to  the 


here  used  ;  it  is  the  common  word  for  "tent."  Therefore  it  seems 
quite  natural  to  suppose  that  it  was  the  tent  of  head-quarters,  so  to 
speak ;  not  Moses'  own  private  tent,  but  the  one  to  which  the  people 
were  wont  to  repair  when  they  had  any  matter  to  transact  with 
Moses.  This  will  explain  why  it  is  not  called  his  tent,  as  if  it  had 
been  his  place  of  residence,  but  the  tent,  as  we  would  say,  the  office, 
or  the  department,  or  some  such  phrase. 


Lapse  and  Restoration.  127 

spot  (ver.  9).  And  now,  as  the  people  stood  and  wor- 
shipped (ver.  10),  repentant  in  spirit,  and  hushed  in  rev- 
erent awe,  as  in  the  presence  of  the  God  against  whom 
they  had  sinned,  Moses  pleads,  and  the  Lord  speaks  to 
him  face  to  face  as  a  man  with  his  friend  (ver.  11).  No- 
tice here,  in  passing,  the  wisdom  of  Moses  and  the  mercy 
of  the  Lord  in  shifting  the  scene  of  the  conference  from 
the  mount,  where  all  was  wrapped  in  clouds,  to  the  tent 
where  the  people  could  follow  Moses  with  their  eyes  to 
the  tent  door,  and  see  him  from  time  to  time  as  he  went 
out  and  in. 

And  now,  though  all  that  passed  on  this  most  memo- 
rable occasion  is  not  revealed,  we  are  told  what  was  the 
main  burden  of  the  prayer  of  Moses.  It  was  for  the 
renewal  of  the  Tabernacle  promise,  for  the  restoration 
of  the  crowning  blessing  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord  in 
the  midst  of  them.  And  his  pleading  is  not  in  vain,  for 
the  Lord  says :  "  My  presence  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I 
will  give  thee  rest"  (ver.  14).  But  let  us  not  fail  to  ob- 
serve the  ground  on  which  it  is  given  :  "  The  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  I  will  do  this  thing  also  that  thou  hast 
spoken  :  for  it/wic  hast  found  grace  in  My  sight,  and  / 
hiozo  tJiee  by  nainey  It  is  for  the  sake  of  the  mediator 
that  the  full  pardon  is  given,  and  the  full  blessing  re- 
stored. And  so  is  it  in  the  new  covenant.  It  is  because 
the  Lord  Jesus  has  found  grace  in  the  Father's  sight 
that  we  are  pardoned.  It  is  because  He  knows  Him  by 
name,  that  we  are  accepted.  "  There  is  no  other  name 
given  under  heaven  among  men  by  which  we  can  be 
saved  "  than  the  name  of  Him  who  is  the  ''Mediator 
between  God  and  man,  the  Man  Christ  Jesus,"  of  whom 


128  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Moses  throughout  all  these  wonderful  scenes  is  so  in- 
structive a  type. 

And  now  we  are  prepared  for  observing  the  results  of 
Moses'  meditation. 

First,  on  God's  part,  there  is  a  renewal  of  all  that  had 
been  forfeited  by  the  sin, — three  things  especially  :  the 
Name,  the  Tables,  the  Tabernacle.  The  new  revelation 
of  the  Name  has  not  only  all  the  same  tenderness  as 
before,  coupled  with  holiness  and  inflexible  justice,  but 
it  now  has  a  new  emphasis  on  the  forgiveness  of  sin  : 
"  And  the  Lord  descended  in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with 
him  there,  and  proclaimed  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And 
the  Lord  passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed.  The 
Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffer- 
ing, and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy 
for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression  and 
sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty."  The 
Hebrew  language  is  exhausted,  as  it  were,  in  order  to 
express  the  riches  of  His  grace  and  goodness;  and  yet 
it  is  the  same  holy  God  as  before,  who  was  made  known 
amid  the  thunders  and  tempests  of  Sinai.  Then  "  the 
two  tables  of  stone  like  unto  the  first  "  (xxxiv.  4)  were 
again  made  the  basis  of  the  covenant  (ver.  10),  while 
new  cautions  are  added  and  new  restraints,  so  as  to  keep 
them  safer  from  temptation  in  the  future  (ver.  1 1-28), 
And,  to  crown  all,  the  people  are  invited  to  build  the 
Tabernacle  according  to  the  pattern  shown  to  Moses  on 
the  mount — not  far  off,  where  the  present  ^'  tent  of  meet- 
ing "  was,  but  right  in  the  centre,  as  originally  intended 
— not  as  a  mere  temporary  provision,  but  that  God  may 
come  and  dwell  among  them,  according  to  His  word  be- 
fore the  people's  sin. 


Lapse  and  Restoration.  129 

Next,  on  Moses'  part  there  is  a  peculiarly  rich  and 
blessed  experience.  The  trying  ordeal  through  which 
the  great  Leader  of  Israel  passed  on  this  occasion,  not 
only  brought  out  those  noble  and  elevated  features  in 
his  character  which  we  have  noticed,  but  begat  in  him  a 
yearning  for  higher  attainments  in  the  knowledge  of  God 
than  he  had  as  yet  reached.  The  more  a  good  man 
knows  of  God,  the  more  he  longs  to  know.  And  so  it 
was,  that  after  all  these  days  alone  with  God  upon  the 
mount,  after  these  interviews  at  the  "  tent  of  meeting," 
when  God  spake  to  him  "  face  to  face  as  a  man  speaketh 
to  his  friend,"  his  spirit  yearns  for  something  higher 
still,  and  he  pleads :  "  I  beseech  Thee,  show  me  Thy 
glory"  (xxxiii.  18).  The  prayer  was  gloriously  answered, 
so  that  the  results  appeared  even  on  the  face  of  the  holy 
man  ;  for  "  when  Aaron  and  all  the  children  of  Israel 
saw  Moses,"  on  his  return  from  the  place  where  he  saw 
all  that  was  possible  for  a  creature  to  see  of  the  glory  of 
God,  "  behold  the  skin  of  his  face  shone  "  (xxxiv.  30), 
though  he  himself  was  all  unconscious  of  it.  There  is 
much  that  is  deeply  interesting  and  richly  instructive  in 
this  experience  of  Moses,  but  our  limits  will  not  allow 
us  to  dwell  on  it. 

Finally,  on  the  part  of  the  people,  there  were  abun- 
dant tokens  of  thorough  repentance.  One  of  these  was 
their  alacrity  to  set  about  the  work  of  erecting  the 
Tabernacle.  All  was  enthusiasm  in  the  camp.  Men  anc^ 
women  vied  v/ith  each  other  in  thoughtful  and  diligent 
endeavour.  Another  was  the  abounding  liberality,  Sq 
profuse  was  it  that  the  receivers  of  the  people's  contri- 
butions  had  more  than  they  knew  what  to  do  with,  so 


130  The  Mosaic  Era. 

that  the  people  had  actually  to  be  restrained  from  giv- 
ing (xxxvi.  5-7).  A  rare  difficulty  this  in  church  matters. 
Would  that  we  had  more  trouble  of  this  kind  on  our 
hands.  And  why  should  we  not  ?  If  the  Church  of 
Christ  only  realized  the  exceeding  grace  of  God,  and  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  these  people  realized  the  grace 
of  Jehovah  and  His  servant  Moses  on  this  occasion,  all 
our  mission  treasuries  would  overflow,  and  instead  of 
ever-renewed  appeals  for  more,  the  difficulty  would  be 
to  restrain  the  people  from  giving.  Finally,  there  was 
the  minutest  and  most  careful  obedience  to  all  the  instruc- 
tions which  had  been  given  for  the  building  of  the 
Tabernacle  and  its  furniture,  so  that  when  all  the  work 
was  completed,  we  are  told  that  ''  Moses  did  look  upon 
all  the  work,  and,  behold,  they  had  done  it  as  the  Lord 
had  commanded,  even  so  had  they  done  it ;  and  Moses 
blessed  them  "  (xxxix.  43).  There  could  be  no  better 
signs  of  a  restored  and  revived  people  than  just  these 
three  things :  alacrity  in  the  Lord's  service,  abounding 
liberality,  and  careful  and  diligent  obedience. 

And  thus  we  find  that  the  disgraceful  lapse  of  the 
people,  instead  of  proving,  as  it  threatened,  an  insurmount- 
able obstacle,  only  furnished  the  occasion  for  illustrating 
more  gloriously  than  ever  the  riches  of  Divine  mercy 
and  goodness,  for  shedding  greater  lustre  on  the  noble 
character  of  the  great  mediator  of  the  covenant,  and 
leading  the  people  in  the  end  nearer  to  God  than  ever 
before.  This  in  no  degree  justifies  the  people  for  their 
sin  ;  but  it  does  magnify  the  glorious  grace  and  exhaust- 
less  resources  of  our  God.  And  so  will  it  be  in  our  case,  if 
we  accept  of  Christ  as  our  Mediator — not  only  will  our 


Lapse  and  Restoration.  131 

sin  be  all  forgiven  and  its  evil  consequences  removed, 
but  in  the  end  we  shall  be  nearer  to  God  than  even  if 
we  had  never  fallen.  "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both 
of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  " ;  and  how  un- 
searchable the  riches  of  His  grace.  "  To  God  the  only 
wise,  be  glory  through  Christ  Jesus,  for  ever.     Amen." 


X. 

THE     TABERNACLE. 

EXODUS   XL.— LEVITICUS  I.  i. 

WE  have  taken  a  rapid  survey  of  the  tabernacle 
revelation,  and  now  we  are  about  to  enter  upon 
a  similar  survey  of  the  tabernacle  service,  as  set  forth  in 
the  Book  of  Leviticus.  But  before  we  begin  the  exten- 
sive subject  of  the  Levitical  ritual,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  familiarize  our  minds  with  the  tabernacle  as  a  whole, 
and  the  general  significance  of  its  service.  There  is  a 
strong  tendency  at  the  present  time  to  undervalue  the 
importance  of  the  truth  taught  in  the  Mosaic  ritual. 
This  is  due  to  several  causes.  One  is  the  strong  reaction 
from  that  license  of  interpretation,  which  led  many  of 
the  older  writers  on  the  tabernacle  to  find  symbols  and 
types  in  every  hook  and  tassel,  pin  and  cord,  of  the 
structure,  and  to  attach  meanings  quite  arbitrary,  and 
many  of  them  exceedingly  far-fetched,  to  every  minutest 
part  of  the  ritual.  The  reaction  from  this  license  was 
wholesome,  but  it  has  gone  too  far.  Another  is  the  dis- 
position to  understand  by  "  the  law,"  the  moral,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  ceremonial,  part  of  the  Mosaic 
institutes.  When  the  law  that  was  given  on  Sinai  is 
spoken  of,  wc  immediately  think  of  the  Ten  Command^ 
(132) 


The  Tabernacle. 


133 


mcnts,  which,  of  course,  is  right  enough  ;  but  it  is  not 
apt  to  occur  to  us  that  the  decalogue,  though  the  most 
important  part,  is  still  only  a  very  small  part  of  the 
whole ;  and  that  inasmuch  as  the  tabernacle  really  car- 
ries the  decalogue  in  its  bosom,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
tabernacle  law  not  only  exceeds  the  rest  in  bulk,  but 
stands  out  as  the  prominent  feature,  that  in  which  the 
entire  revelation  culminates,  and  by  which  it  is  carried 
down  from  generation  to  generation. 

Consider  for  a  moment  the  space  that  is  given  to  the 
tabernacle  in  Exodus.  One-third  part  of  the  entire  book 
is  taken  up  with  it ;  and  it  occupies  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  portion  devoted  to  Mount  Sinai.  And  not  only 
so,  but  all  of  Leviticus  is  occupied  with  it ;  and  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  Numbers.  Consider,  also,  how  much 
importance  is  attached  even  to  its  details.  First,  in  the 
revelation  from  the  Mount,  how  minute  are  the  instruc- 
tions given,  coupled  with  the  special  warning,  "  See  that 
thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern  "  (Exod. 
XXV.  9,  40,  quoted  in  Heb.  viii.  5).  Next,  full  details  are 
again  given  in  the  account  of  the  making  of  the  taber- 
nacle and  all  its  furniture  (chap,  xxxv.-xxxix.)  Then 
the  most  important  details  are  repeated  a  third  time,  in 
the  directions  for  setting  up  the  tabernacle  (xl.  1-16), 
and  still  a  fourth  time,  in  the  account  of  its  actual  erec- 
tion and  dedication  (ver.  17-33).  Surely  all  this  goes  to 
show  that  it  is  certainly  unscriptural  to  attach  little  im- 
portance to  the  tabernacle  and  its  significance. 

In  dealing  with  the  tabernacle  revelation,  I  had  occa- 
sion to  make  some  general  remarks  about  symbolic  lan- 
guage, showing  that  it  was  not  only  natural  but  neces- 


134  The  Mosaic  Era. 

sary  that  language  of  this  kind  should  be  used,  and  that 
the  symbols  employed  must  be  such  as  the  people  could 
understand,  and  therefore  old  and  familiar,  which,  of 
course,  accounts  for  the  Egyptian  origin  of  many  of 
them  ;  and  further,  that,  though  we  have  difficulty  some- 
times in  translating  the  symbols,  on  account  of  their  be- 
ing foreign  to  our  western  and  modern  modes  of  thought, 
it  does  not  follow  that  those  to  whom  they  were  given 
would  have  the  same  difficulty. 

Bearing  these  things  in  mind,  let  us  now  endeavour 
to  set  in  as  clear  a  light  as  possible  the  relation  between 
the  symbols  and  the  types  of  the  tabernacle.  The  want 
of  clear  ideas  on  this  subject  has  led  to  much  confusion 
of  thought,  and  has  brought  discredit  on  many  an  inter- 
pretation which,  though  correct  enough,  nevertheless 
seems  arbitrary  and  unfounded,  simply  because  there 
has  been  a  failure  to  show  the  connection  of  the  secondary 
and  typical  meaning,  which  seems  fanciful,  with  the 
primary  and  essential  one,  which  no  intelligent  person 
would  think  of  questioning. 

A  type,  as  distinguished  from  a  symbol,  is  prophetic. 
It  refers  to  something  in  the  future  which  it  foreshadows. 
The  symbolism  of  the  tabernacle  was  significant  of  truth 
which  belonged  to  the  time  then  present ;  its  types  were 
significant  of  truth  which  belonged  to  time  then  future,  to 
the  times  of  fulfilment.  By  its  symbols  the  tabernacle 
and  its  services  were  a  sermon,  or  rather  collection  of 
sermons ;  in  its  types,  a  prophecy  or  bundle  of  prophe- 
cies. Inasmuch  as  we  live  in  the  times  of  fulfilment, 
the  typical  significance  of  the  tabernacle  has  the  most 
practical  value  for  us.     And   for  this  reason,  probably. 


The  Tabernacle.  135 

the  most  popular  expositions  dwell  almost  exclusively 
upon  the  types.  But  the  difficulty  is,  that  the  ordinary 
reader  is  too  apt  to  think  these  expositions  exceedingly 
fanciful ;  and  he  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  so  thinking, 
when  the  typical  meaning  is  all  that  is  presented.  For 
he  readily  sees  that  without  the  New  Testament  this 
typical  significance  could  scarcely  be  apprehended,  and 
therefore  he  cannot  think  it  at  all  probable  that  the 
children  of  Israel  saw  the  meaning  which  the  modern 
interpreters  find  in  them.  And  it  does  seem  irrational 
to  suppose  that  a  complicated  system  of  symbols  should 
be  given  to  the  children  of  Israel  to  be  a  mere  dumb 
show  for  centuries,  and  then  to  be  understood  and  inter- 
preted for  the  first  time  after  the  people  to  whom  they 
had  been  given  were  "  scattered  and  peeled  "  ! 

The  true  order  is,  first  to  ascertain  what  the  taber- 
nacle and  its  service  meant  to  Israel,  what  truth  it 
taught  them  ;  and  then,  inasmuch  as  the  truth  which 
they  had  was  the  same  truth  in  germ,  which  later  on 
was  unfolded  in  the  New  Testament,  we  readily  recog- 
nise the  typical  relation  of  the  earlier  to  the  later  truth. 
For  it  must,  of  course,  be  remembered  that  the  connec- 
tion between  Moses  and  Christ  is  not  accidental  or  inci- 
dental, but  that  they  are  related  together  as  the  bud  to 
the  flower.  A  bud  is  a  thing  of  beauty  in  the  spring- 
time of  the  year ;  but  it  is  more,  it  is  a  prophecy  of  the 
flower  which  will  blossom  out  in  the  summer.  It  is  very 
plain  that  if  you  had  never  seen  a  flower,  the  bud,  while 
yielding  up  its  beauty  to  your  gaze,  would  not  have  for 
you  any  prophetic  significance  ;  but  after  the  flower  had 
appeared,   then  you   could  look  back  to  the  bud   and 


6  The  Mosaic  Era. 


recognise  in  it,  not  only  a  thing  of  beauty  in  itself,  but  a 
true  type  of  the  flower  that  was  to  come.  So  in  the 
same  way  the  symbols  of  the  tabernacle  had  their  own 
beauty  and  truth  and  value  to  the  people  of  the  time ; 
but  besides  this,  .they  were  buddings  forth  in  the  early 
spring-time,  which  would  afterwards  blossom  out  into  the 
lovely  flowers  of  the  "  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  when  "  the 
fulness  of  the  time  "  had  come.  And  so  it  comes  to 
pass  that  we  who  live  in  the  later  days  of  the  great  year 
of  the  Lord,  are  better  able  than  the  Jewish  fathers 
themselves  to  recognise  the  prophetic  aspect  of  the  old 
and  ever  valuable  symbols  of  the  tabernacle.  They 
could  understand  the  symbolic  meaning  more  easily 
than  we,  but  we  can  understand  the  prophetic  meaning 
better  than  they. 

It  may  be  well  to  take  an  illustration  in  order  to  make 
this  as  intelligible  as  possible.  Perhaps  the  simplest  we 
can  take  is  the  lamb  that  was  offered  daily,  morning  and 
evening,  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  in  the  court 
(Exod.  xxix.  38-42).  This  was  perhaps  the  most  famil- 
iar feature  of  the  whole  service.  As  the  altar  stood  in 
the  court,  all  the  people  could  see  it ;  and  it  was  always 
to  be  seen.  The  morning  lamb  had  scarcely  disappeared 
when  the  evening  lamb  was  brought,  and  again  the 
evening  lamb  remained  on  the  altar  till  the  morning; 
lamb  was  offered  in  its  place,  so  that  practically  the  sac- 
rificial lamb  was  always  there,  night  and  day  continually.. 
Now,  remember,  that  as  the  devout  Israelite  looked  at 
this  sacrifice  upon  the  altar,  he  had  these  words  of  the- 
law  to  help  him  (many  people  forget  that  in  the  under- 
standing of  the  symbols  the  Israelites  had  not  only  the- 


The  Tabernacle.  137 

words  of  the  law,  but   the  Levitical   instruction  to  aid 
them) :  "  This  shall  be  a  continual  burnt-offering  through- 
out your  generations  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting 
before  Jehovah,  where  I  will   meet  you  to   speak  there 
unto  thee  "  (ver.  42).     He  had  also  those  very  numerous 
passages  which  connected  the  slaying  of  the  animal  with 
his  sin,  and  the  offering  of  the  blood  upon  the  altar  with 
an  atonement  for  it.     How,  then,  could  he  fail  to  see  in 
that  smoking  sacrifice  a  most  impressive  sermon  on  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  and  fatal  consequences  of  sin,  on 
the  need  of  an  atonement  to  take  away  that  sin  before 
there  could  be  a  meeting  between  him  and  God  ;  and 
above  all,  an  assurance  of  the   fact   that   there  was  for- 
giveness for  him,  and  a  way  opened  by  which,  notwith- 
standing his  sinfulness,  he  might  draw  near   to    God. 
You  have  only  to  read  the  Psalms  to  have  evidence  of 
the  impressiveness  with  which  these  great  lessons  were 
wrought   into  the   hearts  and  lives   of  those  who  were 
Israelites   indeed.     Thus  in  this  single   rite   there  were 
most    impressively    conveyed    the    two    most    cardinal 
truths  of  our  holy  religion  :  the  exceeding  evil  of  sin, 
and  the  good   tidings  that   God   has  provided  an  atone- 
ment for  it,  by  which  a  way  is  opened  up  for  restoration 
to  God's  favour.     All  this  belonged  to  the  mere  symbol- 
ism of  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice.     But  besides 
the   sermon,    there   was   also    a   prophecy   there.     Not 
only  was  the  lamb  a  symbol  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
it  was   also  a  type   of  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

And  as  with  the  rite  as  a  whole,  so  with  the  particular 
features  of  it.     Take,  for  instance,  the  continuity  of  the 


138  The  Mosaic  Era. 

presentation  :  '*  This  shall  be  a  continual  burnt-offering." 
The  symbolic  meaning  of  this  was  very  plain,  so  that 
every  intelligent  and  devout  Israelite  would  see  it.  It 
Vv'as  this,  that  forgiveness  of  sins  was  to  be  had  not 
merely  at  set  times,  as  on  the  great  Atonement  Day,  or 
on  the  occasion  of  the  special  offerings  of  feast  days, 
but  at  any  time,  at  all  times.  The  way  to  God  was 
always  open  for  the  repentant  sinner.  The  typical 
meaning  is  just  as  evident  to  us,  who  know  that  it  was 
the  nearest  the  language  of  symbol  could  come  to  fore- 
shadowing the  offering  up  of  the  Lamb  of  God  ''  once 
for  all."  The  continual  efficacy  of  the  many  was  a 
prophecy  of  the  perpetual  efficacy  of  the  one. 

There  is  indeed  evidence  to  show  that  some  of  the 
more  enlightened  Israelites  had  glimpses  of  the  pro- 
phetic meaning  in  their  symbols.  We  can  easily  under- 
stand this  by  remembering  how  strongly  their  thoughts 
were  directed  to  the  coming  Messiah,  and  we  can  well 
imagine  that  many  of  the  things  which  must  have 
seemed  mysterious  or  enigmatical  in  the  truth  as  con- 
veyed in  the  symbols  of  the  tabernacle,  while  no  doubt 
begetting  scepticism  in  the  undevout,  just  as  similar 
difficulties  do  still,  would  lead  truly  reverent  minds  on- 
wards to  the  coming  of  Him  in  whom  all  these  enigmas 
would  be  solved.  To  recur  to  our  illustration  of  the 
daily  sacrifice.  A  scoffing  Israelite  might  say  :  "  What 
nonsense,  this  offering  of  a  lamb  all  the  time,  as  if  that 
could  make  any  difference !  It  is  enough  for  me  to  try 
to  do  my  duty  to  my  family  and  neighbours,  and  pay  no 
attention  to  such  a  piece  of  superstition.  What  connec- 
tion  can   there  possibly  be  between  the  offering  of  a 


The  Tabernacle. 


139 


lamb  upon  that  altar  and  the  pardoning  of  anybody's 
sin  ?  "  But  the  devout  Israelite  would  answer :  "  It  is 
true  I  cannot  fully  explain  the  connection ;  but  there 
must  be  something  in  it,  for  it  does  bring  me  and  many 
others  near  to  God.  Listen,  for  instance,  to  that  poet 
singing  there,  as  if  inspired :  '  O  the  blessedness  of  the 
man  whose  transgression  is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is 
covered.'  Besides,  have  we  not  good  evidence  that  God 
did  speak  to  our  fathers  on  the  Mount,  and  that  this  or- 
dinance came  originally  from  Him  ?  And  then  do  not 
the  prophets  tell  us  of  a  coming  Saviour,  the  great 
Messiah  who  will  make  all  these  things  plain  ?  Does  not 
one  of  them  say  of  Him :  '  He  is  led  as  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter'?  What  if  the  Messiah  Himself  be  the  Lamb 
to  whom  all  these  daily  sacrifices  are  continually  point- 
ing?" But  while  it  is  quite  possible  to  conceive  of  a 
devout  Israelite  of  the  time  of  Hezekiah  reaching  so 
far  as  this  in  his  thoughtful  musing,  it  is  important  to 
remember  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  faithful  under 
the  old  covenant  to  see  so  much,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
forgiveness  of  their  sins.  We  must  believe  in  "the 
Lamb  of  God,"  because  He  has  been  revealed  to  our 
faith.  But  all  that  was  necessary  for  t/iem  to  believe 
was  the  creed  of  the  130th  Psalm,  the  central  point  of 
which  is  this:  ''but  t/iere  is  forgiveness  zvith  Thee,  that 
Thou  mayest  be  feared." 

Let  us  now  endeavour  to  present  a  very  general  sketch 
of  the  significance  of  the  tabernacle,  taking  as  our  guide 
the  account  of  its  erection  and  dedication  given  in 
Exodus  xl.  17-38.     Following  the  order  of  the  passage. 


140  The  Mosaic  Era. 

we  shall  have  a  threefold  division  of  the  subject :  (i) 
The  tabernacle  proper,  verses  17-19;  (2)  its  apartments 
and  furniture,  verses  30-33  ;  (3)  the  cloud  without  and 
the  glory  within,  verses  34-38. 

A  brief  glance  at  each  of  these  in  their  order. 

I.  TJie  Tahe7'nacle  proper.  Recall  the  solemn  ratifica- 
tion of  the  Covenant  recorded  in  Exodus  xxiv.,  when 
Moses  erects  an  altar,  and  surrounds  it  with  twelve  pil- 
lars, representing  the  twelve  tribes.  The  same  general 
idea,  with  elaboration  in  detail,  is  found  in  the  taber- 
nacle. With  its  boards  and  its  pillars,  resting  on  the 
silver  ''  sockets "  or  sills,  made  from  the  atonement 
money  of  the  children  of  Israel  (Exod.  xxx.  16,  and 
xxxviii.  25-27),  and  bound  together  with  the  golden 
bars,  it  represented  "  the  people  builded  together  for 
the  habitation  of  God  "  ;  while  the  glow  of  gold  around, 
and  the  gleam  of  colour  above  from  the  overspread 
''  curtains  of  fine  twined  linen,  and  blue,  and  purple, 
and  scarlet,  with  cherubims  of  cunning,  work  "  (xxvi.  i), 
told  that  all  the  enclosure  was  sacred  ground."" 

II.  The  divisions  of  the  sacred  enelosure,  with  their 
furniture.  First,  the  Holy  of  Holies  (xl.  20,  21).  Here 
was  the  Throne  of  God.  And  what  kind  of  throne  was 
it  ?  A  "  Mercy  Seat."  But  what  was  under  the  Mercy 
Seat  ?  "  The  testimony,"  the  Holy  Law  in  its  ark  of 
gold.  The  throne,  then,  was  a  Throne  of  Graee,  founded 
on  Holiness. 

Here  we  have  the  two  leading  thoughts  of  God  which 
the    tabernacle    symbolises :     His   HOLINESS    and    His 


*  See  Cave  on  the  "  Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice,"  p.  118. 


The  Tabernacle.  141 

Mercy.  As  in  every  revelation  of  Himself  which  God 
has  given  us,  "  Mercy  and  truth  meet  together,  right- 
eousness and  peace  embrace  each  other."  That  which 
is  prominent,  that  which  is  uppermost,  that  which  ap- 
pears, is  the  mercy  ;  but  the  mercy  is  ever  founded  on 
justice.  His  throne  is  a  throne  of  mercy  ;  but  in  order 
to  obtain  the  mercy  we  must  approach  it  in  the  way  of 
holiness. 

One  thing  more  before  we  leave  the  holy  of  holies  : 
the  veil  (ver.  21).  Though  God  is  seated  on  His  throne 
of  grace,  this  is  not  apparent  to  every  onlooker.  A  veil 
is  over  it.  But  blessed  be  His  name,  it  is  only  a  veil. 
It  is  not  a  closed  door  or  an  iron  gate  which  comes  be- 
tween us  and  our  merciful  God.  No  ;  it  is  a  veil,  which 
may  be  moved  aside  at  the  fitting  time. 

When  we  reach  the  outer  apartment,  which  is  next 
described  (ver.  22-27),  we  see  what  provision  is  made  for 
entering  within  the  veil.  There,  in  that  outer  apartment, 
is  the  shew-bread,  literally  ''bread  of  the  presence  "  (ver. 
22-26),  the  seven-branched  candlestick,  all  lighted  up 
(ver.  24,  25),  and  the  golden  altar  with  sweet  incense 
rising  from  it  (ver.  26,  27).  The  meaning  of  all  this  is 
not  difficult  to  see.  Though  the  presence  of  the  Lord 
cannot  be  seen  on  this  side  of  the  veil,  there  is  bread  of 
the  presence  for  those  who  come  into  His  sanctuary. 
There  is  also  light,  not  like  the  glory  within  the  veil, 
"  as  of  the  sun  shining  in  his  strength,"  but  light  as  of 
a  lamp,  fed  perpetually  with  oil,  the  well-known  symbol 
of  Divine  grace.  And  then  right  in  front  of  the  curtain 
is  the  golden  altar,  with  the  incense  rising  from  it  and 
wafted    within,    teaching    that,    though   there   is   a  veil 


142  The  Mosaic  Era. 

between  man  and  God,  yet  by  prayer  we  can  penetrate 
within  it  and  reach  the  mercy-seat,  the  throne  of  God. 

This  outer  apartment  also  is  covered  with  a  hanging 
at  the  door  (ver.  28),  so  that  even  the  bread  of  the  pre- 
sence, and  the  Ught  of  the  golden  candlestick,  and  the 
altar  with  its  incense  are  closed  against  sinful  men.  But 
again,  it  is  not  a  door  of  wood,  far  less  a  gate  of  iron  ;  it 
is  an  open  door  with  only  a  hanging  before  it,  and  there 
right  by  (ver.  29)  is  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  with  the 
laver  between.  Here  again  the  symbolism  is  very  ap- 
parent. The  only  way  by  which  sinful  men  can  enter 
into  the  apartment,  where  are  to  be  found  the  bread  of 
the  presence,  the  light  of  the  lamps,  and  the  incense 
altar  of  devotion,  is  by  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  and 
the  laver,  /.  r.,  by  atonement  and  by  washing. 

Finally,  the  work  is  finished  by  rearing  up  the  court 
round  about  the  tabernacle  and  the  altar  (ver.  33),  which 
showed  that  even  the  altar  in  these  days  was  not  open 
to  all  men  without  distinction,  but  only  to  the  chosen 
people  who  had  been  separated  from  the  other  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  to  all  those  who  by  becoming  prose- 
lytes showed  their  willingness  to  enter  with  the  chosen 
people  within  "  the  hanging  of  the  court  gate." 

III.  TJie  Cloud  witJioiit  and  the  Glory  witJiin  :  "  Then 
a  cloud  covered  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  filled  the  tabernacle  "  (ver.  34).  These  were 
the  symbols  of  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  the  tokens  that 
He  had  accepted  the  habitation  that  had  been  prepared 
for  Him,  and  had  come  down  to  dwell  among  His  peo- 
ple, and  to  guide  them  in  all  their  ways  (ver.  36-38). 
The  symbol  visible  outside  was  a  cloud,  which,  however, 


The  Tabernacle.  143 

glowed  with  light  in  its  interior,  so  that  in  the  night  it 
had  the  appearance  of  fire.  What  a  fitting  symbol  of 
His  presence  who  "  dwells  in  light  that  is  inaccessible," 
whom  dark  clouds  cover  from  the  eyes  of  man.  But 
within,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  was  shining  so  brightly 
that  even  "  Moses  was  not  able  to  enter"  (ver.  35).  We 
thus  see  that  it  is  in  mercy  as  well  as  in  holiness  that  a 
veil  is  spread  between  us  and  the  glory  of  the  Divine 
presence.  The  cloud  without  served  the  same  pur- 
pose as  the  veil  within.  It  shaded  the  intolerable 
brightness  of  the  heavenly  light  from  eyes  of  men  that 
could  not  bear  it. 

So  much  for  symbolism,  all  of  which  must  have  been 
quite  as  apparent  to  the  children  of  Israel  as  it  is  to  us, 
and  even  more  so.  And  now  we  can  only  give  a  hint  or 
two  as  to  the  easy  and  natural  transition  from  the  sym- 
bolical to  the  typical  significance.  As  the  symbolic 
meaning  has  been  unveiled,  has  not  the  typical  been 
starting  into  light  at  every  point  ?  Have  you  not  seen 
Christ  in  it  all  through  ?  The  tabernacle  itself  was 
fulfilled  in  Christ,  who  ''  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt 
[lite-rally,  '  tabernacled  ']  among  us  " —  His  human  na- 
ture being  the  habitation  of  God,  and  His  Divine  nature 
the  Glory  within  --He  "  tabernacled  among  us,  and  we 
beheld  His  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father"  (John  i.  14).  And  the  tabernacle  was  fulfilled 
not  only  in  His  human  body,  but  in  "  His  body,  the 
Church,"  He  Himself  being  the  glory  within  it. 

Then  how  easy  is  it  to  see  in  the  altar  of  burnt-offer- 
ing, the  atonement  which  Christ  has  made  for  us  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Himself,  by  which  we  enter  into  the  holy 


144  The  Mosaic  Era. 

place  ;  and  in  the  altar  of  incense  the  intercession  of 
Christ,  by  which  we  enter  into  the  holiest  of  all. 

And  the  veil  —  how  beautifully  is  its  typical  signifi- 
cance brought  out  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (chap. 
X.,  ver.  19,  20)  :  '^  Having  therefore,  brethren,  boldness 
to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a 
new  and  living  way,  which  He  hath  consecrated  for 
us,  through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say,  His  flesh."  How 
beautiful  the  thought  !  The  Divine  glory  was  veiled, 
as  well  as  revealed,  in  human  likeness.  And  as  it  was 
with  His  human  body,  so  is  it  with  ^'  His  body,  the 
Church."  As  long  as  we  continue  in  the  flesh,  the  glory 
"  doth  not  yet  appear,"  but  as  soon  as  this  tabernacle  is 
dissolved,  it  w^ill  be  as  the  rending  of  a  veil  which  hides 
the  Divine  glory  ;  and  then  ''  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for 
w^e  shall  see  Him  as  He  is" — not  as  He  was  when  His 
Divine  glory  was  veiled  in  mortal  flesh,  but  as  He  is  now 
in  the  heavenly  radiancy,  the  very  symbol  of  which  was 
so  bright  that  even  the  eyes  of  Moses  could  not  bear  its 
lustre.  The  subject  is  exceedingly  tempting  ;  but  we 
may  not  offer  more  than  a  mere  hint  of  it. 

And  now  only  notice,  in  conclusion,  what  a  beautiful 
close  this  is  to  the  Book  of  Exodus,  and  what  a  contrast 
to  the  Book  of  Genesis.  It  began  with,  ^'  In  the  begin- 
ning God  "  ;  and  it  ended  with  "  a  coffin  in  Egypt." 
This  book  began  wdth  Israel  in  Egypt,  a  poor,  oppressed, 
Avretched  multitude  of  slaves,  and  it  ends  with  God  in 
Israel,  glorious  enough  in  itself,  but  still  more  glorious 
as  a  prophecy  of  still  greater  things  to  come,  a  prophecy 
first  of  ''  Emmanuel,  God  with  us,"  and  last  of  the  second 
coming  of  the  same  Emmanuel,  when  that  great  voice 


The  Tabernacle.  145 

shall  be  heard  out  of  heaven,  saying,  "  Behold  the  taber- 
nacle of  God  is  with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them, 
and  they  shall  be  His  people,  and  God  Himself  shall  be 
with  them  and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes  ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be 
any  more  pain  :  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away. 
And  He  that  sat  upon  the  throne,  said,  Behold  I  make 

all  things  new And  there  shall  be  no  more  curse : 

but  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  shall  be  in  it ; 
and  His  servants  shall  serve  Him  :  and  they  shall  see 
His  face ;  and  His  name  shall  be  in  their  foreheads." 


7 


XI. 

RITUAL    OF    THE    ALTAR. 

LEVITICUS  I.-VII. 

LEVITICUS  is  the  book  of  Old  Testament  worship. 
In  Exodus  there  were  two  grand  themes :  first, 
Israel  brought  out  of  Egypt  to  meet  with  God  ;  and 
then,  God  descending  from  His  holy  heaven  to  meet 
with  them  (on  Sinai)  and  to  dwell  with  them  (in  the 
Tabernacle).  And  now  that  God  dwells  among  His 
people,  it  is  necessary  that  they  should  be  well  informed 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  may  with  acceptance 
draw  near  to  Him.  Such  is  the  object  and  intent  of  the 
book  before  us. 

The  historical  importance  of  the  Book  of  Leviticus  is 
very  great.  One  might  as  well  expect  to  understand 
the  history  of  Greece,  while  remaining  in  ignorance  of 
philosophy  and  art ; — or  of  England,  while  knowing 
nothing  whatever  of  parliament  and  the  constitution; 
as  to  understand  the  history  of  Israel  without  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  Hebrew  ritual.  Think  how  much  labour  is 
spent  in  the  study  of  the  classical  mythology  at  our  schools 
and  universities,  not  for  any  value  there  is  in  itself,  but 
for  the  light  it  throws  upon  classical  literature ;  and  yet 
how  little  do  Christian  people  realize  the  importance  of 
studying  the  modes  of  worship  among  the  Jews,  in  order 
(146) 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  147 

to  uiiflerstand  their  literature,  which  is  our  Bible.  And 
besides,  not  only  is  the  knowledge  of  the  tabernacle  wor- 
ship necessary  in  order  to  understand  the  sacred  litera- 
ture, but  it  is  of  real  value  in  itself;  not  merely  of  anti- 
quarian and  psychological  value,  like  the  ancient  my- 
thologies, but  of  present  practical  value,  as  throwing 
light  upon  the  New  Testament  and  illustrating  that 
Gospel  on  which  our  hopes  are  founded. 

This  book  of  Leviticus,  like  the  tabernacle  itself,  is 
rough  and  unattractive  on  the  outside,  and  may  even 
provoke  the  sneers  of  the  mere  passers-by ;  but  it  is  all 
glorious  within,  and  to  those  who  with  reverent  feet  en- 
ter its  portal,  there  will  be  unfolded  no  inconsiderable 
amount  of  "  the  unsearchable,  riches  of  Christ."  There 
are  the  rough  "  badgers'  skins "  without ;  but  within 
there  is  the  glory  of  gold  and  the  beauty  of  "  the  fine 
twined  linen,  with  blue  and  purple  and  scarlet,  and 
cherubims  cunningly  wrought." 

After  all,  the  Old  Testament  worship  was  essentially 
the  same  as  ours.  There  were  the  same  thoughts  in  it, 
the  same  emotions,  the  same  purposes,  the  same  aspira- 
tions, the  same  hopes.  The  difference  was  only  this, 
that  while  they  worshipped  mainly  through  sight-forms, 
addressed  to  the  eye,  we  worship  through  sound-forms, 
addressed  to  the  ear.  Constituted  as  we  are,  a  formless 
worship  is  impossible.  Speech  is  so  near  akin  to  spirit, 
that  we  often  forget  that  after  all  it  is  only  form.  It  is 
the  inaudible  emotion  lying  back  of  it,  in  which  the  wor- 
ship essentially  consists.  By  long  familiarity  the  forms 
of  speech  have  become  transparent ;  and  just  as  a  glass, 
when  exceedingly  clear,  attracts  no  attention  to  itself, 


148  The  Mosaic  Era. 

but  allows  it  to  pass  through  to  the  object  on  the  other 
side,  so  is  it  with  the  medium  of  speech  through  which 
we  are  wont  to  convey  and  receive  spiritual  impressions. 
But  if  beings  far  more  spiritual  and  ethereal  than  we, 
were  to  examine  our  worship  as  we  look  upon  that  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  it  would  seem  as  rude  and  gross 
as  theirs  may  seem  to  us.  We  must  make  allowance  for 
the  difference  of  culture,  and  remember  at  the  same 
time  that  if  we  would  only  familiarize  ourselves  with  the 
sight-forms  of  the  Old  Testament,  they  would  become 
more  transparent  to  us,  or  rather  the  veil  which  the 
Apostle  Paul  speaks  of  as  over  the  eyes  of  so  many  in 
the  reading  of  the  Old  Testament  (2  Cor.  iii.  15,  16) 
would  be  taken  away,  and  through  these  forms  we  should 
clearly  see  the  beauty,  grace,  and  glory  of  the  Gospel  in 
Leviticus. 

In  the  erection  of  the  tabernacle  (Exod.  xl.)  the  order 
was  from  the  Holy  of  Holies  within  outwards  to  the 
Court.  In  the  directions  for  worship  the  order  is  re- 
versed. Each  order  is  appropriate  in  its  place.  In  the 
setting  up  of  the  tabernacle,  the  prominent  thought  was 
the  coming  down  of  God  to  dwell  with  His  people. 
Hence  the  throne,  the  mercy-seat,  comes  first,  and  after, 
in  succession,  the  veils  and  barriers  which  guarded  the 
shrine  from  unhallowed  intrusion.  Now,  the  prominent 
thought  is  the  access  of  the  people  to  God,  and  accord- 
ingly the  beginning  is  made  from  the  court,  through 
which  alone  there  can  be  access  to  the  inner  shrine. 

The  ritual  of  the  Court  resolves  itself  into  the  ritual 
of  "  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,"  for  though  the  laver 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  149 

stood  also  in  the  court,  it  more  properly  appertained  to 
the  holy  place,  the  special  sphere  of  the  priests.  Only 
the  priests  were  allowed  to  use  the  laver ;  and,  standing 
as  it  did  at  the  door  of  the  holy  place,  so  that  they  might 
wash  their  hands  and  their  feet  before  entering  the  sacred 
precincts,  its  connection  with  the  court  was  only  inci- 
dental. The  altar  of  burnt-offering  was  the  centre  of 
the  worship  of  the  court. 

This  altar  was  the  foundation  of  all  the  tabernacle 
worship.  The  priests  could  not  enter  into  the  holy 
place  except  on  the  ground  of  sacrifice  presented  on  the 
brazen  altar.  Nor  could  the  high-priest  on  the  great 
atonement  day  enter  the  holy  of  holies,  without  having 
first  offered  not  only  the  ordinary  sacrifice,  but  an  ad- 
ditional sin-offering  on  the  altar  in  the  court.  Nothing 
could  be  more  plainly  and  impressively  taught  than  the 
truth  which  stands  out  here,  that  without  an  atoning 
sacrifice  there  can  be  no  access  for  guilty  man  into  the 
presence  of  the  holy  God.  Not  only  was  the  Shekinah 
glory  within  the  veil  impossible  of  access  ;  but  the  bread 
of  the  presence,  the  light  of  the  lamps,  the  privileges  of 
the  altar  of  incense  were  all  closed,  until  a  sacrifice  had 
been  offered  upon  the  altar.  Thus  were  the  children  of 
Israel  taught,  and  thus  too  are  we  taught,  that  the  first 
thing  for  the  sinner  to  do,  before  he  can  taste  the  heaven- 
ly bread,  before  he  can  see  the  heavenly  light,  before  he 
can  even  pray  with  acceptance,  is  to  avail  himself  of  the 
atonement  which  God  has  provided. 

The  altar  was  the  people's  place  of  meeting  with  God. 
Only  the  priests  could  enter  the  holy  place.  Only  the 
high-priest  could  enter  the  holy  of  holies.    But  the  altar 


I50  The  Mosaic  Era. 

was  free  to  all.  The  call  was  addressed  to  every  child 
of  Israel :  '^  Come  into  His  courts,  and  bring  an  offering 
with  you."  The  atonement  which  God  provides  is  free 
to  all,  without  exception  and  without  distinction. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  prominent  place  given 
to  the  altar  in  the  book  of  Leviticus  and  in  the  worship 
of  the  tabernacle,  guards  against  one  of  the  great  abuses 
that  have  been  usually  connected  with  priestly  authority. 
Wherever  a  powerful  hierarchy  has  established  itself, 
there  has  been  priestly  tyranny,  and  the  order  has  been, 
the  people  for  the  priests,  and  not  the  priests  for  the 
people.  Not  so  with  the  priesthood  which  the  Lord  ap- 
pointed. His  priesthood  was  for  the  people.  The  peo- 
ple's altar  came  first,  and  was  the  foundation  of  all. 
That  which  gained  access  to  God  was  no  secret  rite 
transacted  within  the  veil,  but  an  offering  presented  in 
the  open  court  in  sight  of  all  the  people. 

This  altar  of  burnt-offering  in  the  court  is  henceforth 
to  be  the  fixed  place  for  the  offering  of  sacrifice.  Up  to 
this  time  an  altar  might  be  erected  anywhere.  Now  the 
worship  must  centre  in  the  one  altar.  We  can  readily 
see  how  this  would  tend  to  preserve  the  purity  of  wor- 
ship. Where  many  altars  are  erected,  the  tendency  is  to 
polytheism,  and  the  restriction  to  the  one  would  be  a 
valuable  safeguard  of  the  doctrine  of  one  living  and  true 
God.  Besides,  the  altar  in  the  court  w^as  so  surrounded 
by  other  symbols  of  truth,  that  the  doctrine  of  sacrifice 
was  much  less  likely  there  to  fall  into  those  abuses  which 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  keep  apart  from  it.  In  par- 
ticular, the  worshipper  at  this  altar  had  his  face  always 
directed  towards  that  holy  law,  which,  as  we  have  seen, 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  151 

was  the  cynosure  of  the  tabernacle  service,  so  that  only 
those  who  shut  their  eyes  to  what  the  Lord  had  plainly 
placed  before  them,  could  allow  sacrifices  of  conscience 
to  degenerate  into  sacrifices  of  superstition. 

This  leads  us  to  pass  from  the  altar  to  the  sacrifice 
upon  it.  And  here  we  shall  interpose  a  word  upon  the 
objection  which  rises  to  the  minds  of  majiy,  as  they  open 
this  book  of  Leviticus,  beginning  with  "  The  Lord  called 
unto  Moses,  and  spake,"  and  then  proceeding  with  so 
many  tedious  and  apparently  unprofitable  details.  Is  it 
not  derogatory  to  the  Divine  dignity  to  conceive  of  His 
personally  prescribing  all  these  minutise  of  ritual  ?  But 
what  if  it  were  absolutely  necessary,  to  save  such  a  sys- 
tem from  gross  abuse,  that  the  Lord  Himself  should  pre- 
scribe the  details  of  the  sacrificial  rites  ?  Consider  here, 
what  is  the  great  distinction  between  the  sacrifices  of 
the  Levitical  worship,  and  the  sacrificial  rites  of  heathen- 
ism. The  sacrifices  of  the  heathen  have  been  for  the  most 
part  dictated  by  fear,  and  have  assumed  the  form  of  an 
appeal  to  the  selfishness  of  the  supposed  deity,  as  it  were 
a  bribe,  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  gift  being  the  essential 
factor  in  the  case.  The  Jewish  sacrifices,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  not  left  to  man's  fear,  but  provided  by  God's 
love,  and  so  arranged  that  the  appeal  was  always  to  the 
conscience  of  the  man  and  to  the  holiness  of  God.  Man 
always  goes  astray  when  left  to  find  his  own  way  to  God. 
If  access  is  to  be  had  at  all,  God  must  show  the  way; 
and  when  He  shows  it,  it  is  found  to  be  a  way  not  of 
selfishness,  but  of  conscience,  not  of  superstition,  but  of 
holiness. 

The  first  seven  chapters  of  Leviticus  are  taken  up 


152  The  Mosaic  Era. 

with  the  ritual  of  the  altar.  Let  us,  in  glancing  over 
these,  look  first  at  the  general  features  of  the  sacrificial 
worship  and  then  at  the  special  features  of  the  different 
sacrifices. 

I.  General  features  of  Sacrifice, 

The  sacrifices  were  essentially  sacrifices  of  animals, 
slain  first,  and  tlien  offered  upon  the  altar.  For,  though 
"  the  meat-offering  "  was  simply  a  presentation  of  flour 
and  frankincense,  with  some  accompaniments,  yet  it 
never  stood  alone,  but  was  an  adjunct  of  some  other 
offering,  especially  of  the  burnt-offering;  so  that  even 
this  is  no  exception.  The  animal  sacrifice,  then,  is  that 
in  which  we  are  to  seek  the  true  idea  of  the  altar  ritual. 
And  here  there  are  four  main  elements :  the  presentation 
of  the  animal,  the  killing  of  it,  the  disposition  made  of 
the  blood,  and  the  burning  of  the  remains. 

First,  the  presentation  of  the  animal.  In  this  there 
was  no  doubt  the  idea  of  bringing  a  gift  to  the  Lord  ; 
but  this  conception  was  not  at  all  prominent.  Through- 
out the  ritual  it  is  kept  in  the  background,  and  when  at 
any  time  the  people  were  in  danger  of  falling  into  the 
heathen  notion  of  propitiating  God  by  the  value  of  their 
gifts,  they  were  reminded  of  their  folly  in  words  like 
these :  ^'  I  will  take  no  bullock  out  of  thy  house,  nor  he- 
goats  out  of  thy  fields ;  for  every  beast  of  the  forest  is 
mine,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills." 

The  animal  was  brought  as  a  representative  of  the 
offerer,  as  is  indicated  by  the  laying  on  of  his  hands,  a 
very  important  part  of  the  ritual.  See  chap.  i.  verse  4 : 
"  he  shall  put  [literally,  ''  lean  "]  his  hand  upon  the  head 
of  the  burnt-offering  ;  and  it  shall  be  accepted  for  him 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  153 

to  make  atonement  for  him."  Besides  this,  there  is  good 
authority  for  translating  in  verse  3  :  ^'  he  shall  offer  it 
/or  his  acceptance  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation."  But  if  this  be  disputed,  and  the  transla- 
tion of  our  version  be  preferred,  the  fourth  verse  is  ex- 
plicit enough,  and  shows  plainly  that  the  animal  was 
looked  upon  as  the  man's  representative. 

And  now  we  can  see  the  appropriateness  of  the  choice 
of  an  animal,  inasmuch  as  in  all  the  lower  creation  the 
life  of  an  animal  is  that  which  comes  nearest  to  the  life 
of  a  man ;  and  the  choice  of  the  domestic  animals  is  also 
explained,  as  those  with  which  mian  is  so  much  more 
closely  asso(iiated  than  with  other  creatures.  The  regu- 
lation that  only  those  without  blemish  could  be  offered, 
conveys  the  idea  that  the  representative  of  man  at  the 
altar  of  God  must  be  without  stain.  It  will  be  seen, 
however,  that  the  full  explanation  of  this  was  veiled 
until  the  fulness  of  the  time  when  the  Antitype  was  of- 
fered a  sacrifice  upon  the  world  altar  of  the  cross.  For 
if  there  had  been  nothing  more  than  the  mere  idea  of 
representing  the  sinner,  it  would  have  seemed  that  the 
more  blemishes  the  better,  and  some  feeble,  crooked, 
rickety  creature  would  have  been  the  best  and  truest 
symbol  of  man  in  his  sin  and  estrangement  from  God  ; 
but  when  we  add  to  the  force  of  the  symbol  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  type,  we  see  how  it  was  necessary  that  the 
animal  which  should  take  the  sinner's  place  upon  the 
altar  of  burnt-offering  must  be  without  blemish,  in  order 
truly  to  represent  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world." 

TJie  killing  of  the  animal  is  readily  understood  as  soon 
t 


154  The  Mosaic  Era. 

as  we  know  that  it  was  regarded  as  the  man's  representa- 
tive. It  was  an  acknowledgment  of  his  guilt,  guilt 
deserving  of  death.  And  this  was  made  still  more  ob- 
vious and  impressive  by  the  practice  in  certain  cases  of 
confession  of  sin  on  the  part  of  the  offerer  as  he  leaned 
his  hand  upon  the  animal's  head. 

At  this  point  we  encounter  an  objection  which  appears 
very  strong  to  modern  "  culture."  This  continual 
slaughter  strikes  one  with  refined  sensibilities  as  pecu- 
liarly revolting.  We  do  not  deny  it.  We  admit  that 
there  was  much  connected  with  the  ritual  of  the  altar  of 
a  revolting  nature  ;  but  why  ?  Do  we  not  need  to  be 
taught  that  sin  is  a  revolting  thing  ?  What  can  be  more 
important  in  the  education  of  a  human  being  than  to 
have  his  mind  filled  with  horror  against  sin ;  and  this  is 
not  to  be  accomplished  by  pictures  of  statuary,  or  any 
kind  of  mere  aesthetic  cultivation.  Greece  had  abundance 
of  the  finest  culture.  There  was  everything  to  please 
the  eye  in  her  temples  and  monuments ;  but  think  of 
the  corruption  in  Greek  hearts,  think  of  the  abomina- 
tions of  Greek  society !  In  the  Jewish  worship  there 
were  plain  truths  plainly  and  even  roughly  taught ;  and 
what  was  the  consequence  ?  A  nation,  as  Matthew 
Arnold  so  fully  brings  out,  that  stood  alone  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth  as  a  witness  for  righteousness  and 
purity  in  personal  and  social  life.  Intellectual  and 
.aesthetic  culture,  without  the  stern  foundation  of  good 
morals,  hatred  of  sin  and  love  of  holiness,  produces  mere 
''  whited  sepulchres,  beautiful  without,  while  within  they 
are  full  of  dead  men's  bones  and  all  uncleanness."  It  is 
greatly  to  be  feared  that  some  of  those,  who  are  most 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  155 

fastidious  about  that  which  appears  to  the  senses,  arc 
least  scrupulous  as  to  that  which  passes  in  the  secret  of 
the  heart.  Better,  far  better,  have  that  which  will  startle 
us  without,  than  all  rotten  within.  The  true  answer  to 
the  objection  which  a  superficially  refined  taste  brings 
against  the  barbarity  of  the  Hebrew  worship,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  outcome  of  it,  first  in  the  Hebrew  character 
for  morality  and  purity,  in  contrast  with  the  heathen 
nations  of  the  time ;  and  next  in  the  whole  tone  and 
tenour  of  the  Hebrew  literature,  which  we  can  with  all 
appropriateness  call  "  the  holy  writings'' 

The  third  general  feature  is  the  disposition  of  the  blood. 
And  here  we  are  apt  to  fall  into  an  error,  by  transferring 
our  modern  ideas  to  the  old  ritual.  We  associate  blood 
with  death.  But  it  was  not  so  among  the  Jews.  They, 
on  the  contrary,  associated  it  with  life.  An  illustration 
of  this  will  be  seen  in  Leviticus  xvii.  10-14,  especially 
these  words,  repeated  again  and  again :  "  the  life  of  the 
flesh  is  in  the  blood."  The  idea  of  death  was  in  the 
killing  of  the  animal ;  and  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood 
upon  the  altar  meant  the  dedication  to  God  of  a  life 
which  had  been  reached  through  death.  "■  Dead  unto 
sin" :  such  was  the  idea  connected  with  the  slain  animal. 
*' Alive  unto  God  "  :  such  was  the  idea  connected  with 
the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  upon  the  altar.  Thus,  while 
penitence  is  the  prominent  feature  of  the  presentation 
and  the  killing,  faith  is  prominent  in  the  sprinkling  of 
the  blood. 

Remember  that,  when  we  speak  of  faith  on  the  part  of 
the  Hebrew  worshipper,  we  do  not  mean  faith  in  Christ 
consciously  experienced.     All  that  it  was  necessary  for 


156  The  Mosaic  Era. 

him  to  believe,  and  probably  all  that  the  average  wor- 
shipper did  believe,  was  that  in  the  mercy  of  God,  through 
the  presentation  of  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar,  there  was 
atonement  provided  for  him  ;  and  though  he  could  not 
explain  or  understand  the  manner  of  it,  it  was  enough 
to  know  the  fact  of  it.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  know 
that  in  this  way  many,  like  David,  had  their  sins  forgiven 
and  their  souls  cleansed,  became  "  dead  unto  sin  and 
alive  unto  God,"  through  the  penitent  and  believing  use 
of  God's  own  ordinances. 

Lastly,  tJic  burning  on  the  altar.  Here  again  we  are 
apt  to  be  misled  by  modern  notions  and  associations. 
We  associate  burning  with  torture,  and  some  have  actu- 
ally said  that  the  burning  of  the  animal  on  the  altar  was 
a  symbol  of  the  torments  of  hell.  These  ideas  do  not 
come  from  the  Bible  itself.  Perhaps  Dante  is  as  much 
responsible  for  them  as  any  other  single  authority.  If 
we  take  the  Bible  itself  for  our  guide,  we  shall  reach  the 
conclusion  that  the  idea  was  that  of  dedication  on  the 
part  of  man  and  acceptance  on  the  part  of  God.  The 
placing  on  the  altar  was  the  symbol  of  dedication  on  the 
part  of  man,  the  burning  was  the  symbol  of  acceptance 
on  the  part  of  God.  The  "  burnt-offering  "  was  distin- 
guished from  the  rest  by  being  wholly  burnt  upon  the 
altar.  And  the  word  by  which  it  is  designated  comes 
from  a  Hebrew  root  which  means  to  go  up,  to  ascend  to 
God.  We  read  of  its  ascending  to  God  "  for  a  sweet 
savour,"  and  "  for  a  savour  of  rest  "  ;  and  there  is  no 
authority  whatever  for  the  truly  revolting  idea  that  even 
a  symbol  of  suffering  was  a  sweet  savour  unto  God. 
When  Elijah  confronted  the  priests  of  Baal  upon  Mount 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  157 

Carmel,  how  was  it  that  the  Lord  testified  His  ac- 
ceptance of  His  servant?  Was  it  not  by  fire  ?  God's 
acceptance  of  that  which  man  has  dedicated  to  Him 
in  sacrifice,  is  the  idea  involved  in  the  burning  on  the 
altar. 

There  was,  however,  another  burning,  which  had  a 
different  meaning.  In  some  of  the  sacrifices,  notably  the 
greater  sin-offering,  the  animal  was  not  burnt  upon  the 
altar,  but  was  carried  outside  the  camp  and  consumed 
there.  But  it  is  important  to  notice  that  the  Hebrew 
word  for  this  burning  is  quite  different.  The  word  used 
for  burning  upon  the  altar  is  the  same  word  that  is  used 
for  the  burning  of  incense  in  the  holy  place,  with  which 
the  happiest  and  most  delightful  thoughts  are  always 
connected.  But  the  word  applied  to  the  burning  of  the 
sin-offering  without  the  camp  is  an  entirely  different 
word,  meaning  to  burn  up,  to  destroy  ;  and  it  may  be 
that  in  this  burning  we  have  a  picture  of  the  wrath  of 
God  against  sin,  though  even  here  there  is  some  diffi- 
culty from  the  fact  that  these  offerings  were  regarded  as 
especially  holy. 

n.  Special  features  of  the  different  Sacri- 
fices. 

Five  species  of  sacrifice  were  offered  on  the  altar  of 
burnt-offering.  Following  the  order  of  the  first  seven 
chapters  of  Leviticus,  these  were  the  burnt-offering,  the 
meat-offering,  the  peace-offering,  the  sin-offering,  and  the 
trespass-offering.  This  may  be  regarded  as  the  historical 
order.  The  burnt-offering  comes  first,  because  it  is  the* 
old  historical  sacrifice,  which  has  been  offered  from  the 
beginning,    before   the    differentiation    of    the   species. 


158  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  it  may  be  regarded  as  comprehend- 
ing in  itself  the  significance  of  all  the  others  ;  and  ac- 
cordingly it  was  eminently  suitable  that  the  perpetual 
offering — the  lamb  of  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice 
— should  be  a  burnt-offering.  For  these  reasons  then, 
the  burnt-offering  occupies  the  foremost  position  in  the 
rules  for  the  ritual  of  the  altar.  The  meat-offering  fol- 
lows, because  of  its  intimate  association  with  the  burnt- 
offering,  of  which  it  was  a  special  accompaniment.  The 
peace-offering  comes  next,  as  the  natural  result ;  and  be- 
sides, there  is  some  evidence  that  already,  before  the 
institution  in  Leviticus,  the  peace-offering  had  developed 
as  a  shoot  from  the  old  original  burnt-offering  (see  Exod. 
xxiv.  5).  The  sin-offering  and  trespass-offering  were 
entirely  new,  and  therefore  come  last.  They  were  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  new  revelation  of  law,  inas- 
much as  ''  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin." 

If  we  could  devote  a  separate  lecture  to  the  con- 
sideration of  each  of  the  offerings,  it  might  be  well  to 
follow  the  same  order  ;  but  inasmuch  as  we  must  take 
them  all  in  one  view,  it  will  be  better  to  follow  the  order 
which  was  observed  when  the  offerings  were  presented 
in  series,  a  very  good  example  of  which  we  have  in 
Leviticus  ix.  15-18:  ''And  he  brought  the  people's 
offering,  and  took  the  goat,  which  was  the  sin-offering 
for  the  people,  and  slew  it,  and  offered  it  for  sin,  as  the 
first.  And  he  brought  the  bnrnt-offcring,  and  offered  it 
according  to  the  manner.  And  he  brought  the  meat- 
offering, and  filled  his  hand  out  of  it,  and  burnt  it  upon 
the  altar,  beside  the  burnt  sacrifice  of  the  morning.  He 
slew  also  the  bullock  and  the  ram  for  a  sacrifice  of  peace- 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  159 

offerings^  Here  we  have  the  logical,  as  the  other  was 
the  historical  order.  The  sin-offering  (or  trespass-offer- 
ing, as  the  case  might  be)  came  first ;  then  the  burnt- 
offering  with  its  associated  meat-offering ;  and  finally 
the  peace-offering.  This,  as  you  see,  gives  us  three 
main  sacrifices :  the  sin-offering,  the  burnt-offering, 
the  peace-offering.  The  burnt-offering  occupied  the 
central  position,  having  as  its  antecedent  the  sin-offering, 
and  as  its  consequent  the  peace-offering.  We  have 
already  seen  what  the  essential  significance  of  the  burnt- 
offering  is.  It  is  dedication  on  the  part  of  man  and  ac- 
ceptance on  the  part  of  God.  What  is  the  antecedent 
of  this  dedication  and  acceptance  ?  It  is  atonement. 
Hence  the  sin-offering  preceded  the  burnt-offering. 
What  is  the  consequence  of  this  dedication  and  accept- 
ance? Peace  with  God  and  joy  in  His  salvation. 
Hence  the  peace-offering*  followed  the  burnt-offering. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  different  offerings,  following 
the  order  just  indicated. 

I.  The  Sin-offering  i^QY.  \y)  The  prominent  idea  in 
the  sin-offering  is  that  of  atonement  and  forgiveness. 
It  was  appointed  for  sins  of  ''  ignorance  "  (ver.  2) ;  but  it 
would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  it  was  limited  to 
what  we  understand  by  sins  of  ignorance.  Ignorance 
was  distinguished,  not  from  knowledge,  but  from  pre- 
sumption (see  Ps.  xix.  12,  13).  The  idea  was  that  there 
was  no  atonement  for  a  man  in  a  hard-hearted,  defiant 


*  It  ought  to  be  remembered  that  the  Hebrew  word  {or peace  had 
a  larger  meaning  than  ours.  It  included  welfare  in  the  widest 
sense,  as  can  be  seen  from  the  customary  salutation,  "  Peace  be 
unto  thee." 


i6o  The  Mosaic  Era. 

state  of  mind.  We  shall  see  more  clearly  what  is  meant, 
if  we  look  at  the  statute  which  refers  to  the  common 
people  (ver.  27,  28) :  "  if  any  one  of  the  common  people 
sin  through  ignorance  .  ...  or  if  Ids  sin,  which  he  had 
sinned,  come  to  his  knozvledge!'  This  evidently  covers 
the  case  of  a  man  who  had  been  led  astray  by  tempta- 
tion, but  who  has  now  become  convicted  of  the  sin 
which  in  the  time  of  his  wandering  from  God  he  was  in- 
duced to  commit ;  and  it  as  certainly  excludes  the  man 
who  still,  in  defiance  of  God's  law,  ''  sets  the  stumbling- 
block  of  his  iniquity  before  his  face."  We  see,  then, 
that  the  atonement  was  provided,  not  only  for  sins  which 
had  been  unconsciously  committed,  but  also  for  sins,  the 
guilt  of  which  after  their  commission  had  been  borne 
upon  the  sinner  so  strongly,  as  to  lead  him  to  seek  an 
atonement  and  forgiveness  for  them.  And  indeed  there 
seems  to  be  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  a  reference 
to  this  tvv^ofold  application  of  the  sin-offering,  where  the 
high-priest  is  spoken  of  as  one  that  ''  can  have  compas- 
sion on  the  ignorant,  and  on  them  that  are  out  of  the  ivay  " 
(Heb.  v.  2).  We  conclude,  then,  that  the  sin-offering 
was  intended  for  all  sins  of  which  a  man  truly  and 
heartily  repented,  so  that  it  could  be  fairly  said  that  his 
sin,  when  he  committed  it,  appeared  in  a  very  different 
light  to  him,  from  that  in  which  it  now  appears  as  he 
essays  to  bring  his  gift  to  the  altar. 

There  were  grades  of  sin-offerings ;  but  it  is  important 
to  observe  that  these  were  grades  of  rank  and  position 
in  the  person,  not  of  heinousness  in  the  sin.  A  more 
solemn  expiation  was  necessary  for  a  sin  of  the  high- 
priest  (ver.  3),  who  represented  the  people  at  large,  and 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  i6i 

of  the  whole  congregation  (ver.  13),  than  for  individual 
sins ;  and  the  sin  of  a  ruler  (ver.  22)  was  regarded  as 
calling  for  more  marked  attention  than  that  of  one  of 
the  common  people  (ver.  27).  The  propriety  of  this  is 
sufficiently  apparent. 

The  sin-offering  for  the  high-priest,  and  that  for  the 
congregation  were  almost  exactly  alike,  and  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  sin-offering  for  the  ruler  or  the  indi- 
vidual member  of  the  congregation,  the  former  is  some- 
times  spoken  of  as  the  greater  sin-offering,  the  other 
being  considered  the  lesser  one.  In  the  greater  sin- 
offering  (which  we  choose  as  the  characteristic  one),  the 
two  outstanding  features  were  the  disposition  of  the 
blood,  and  the  burning  of  the  entire  body  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  fatty  parts,  which  were  offered  on  the 
altar)  outside  the  camp.  These  two  parts  of  the  ritual 
were  so  arranged  as  to  present  the  extremest  contrast. 
The  blood  was  not  only,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary 
sacrifice,  sprinkled  upon  the  altar  in  the  court ;  but  it  was 
carried  into  the  holy  place,  and  there  sprinkled  seven 
times  upon  the  veil.  Remember,  this  was  as  near 
as  it  was  possible  to  go  to  the  inner  shrine,  except  on 
the  great  atonement  day,  which  only  came  once  in  the 
year.  Then,  besides  the  seven  times  upon  (or  towards) 
the  veil,  it  was  put  upon  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  incense, 
and  the  rest  of  it  poured  out  at  the  base  of  the  altar 
into  the  court.  Here  then  we  have  the  blood  which  is 
the  life,  carried  far  in,  to  the  very  threshold  of  the  inner 
sanctuary.  On  the  other  hand,  the  body  of  death  was 
carried  far  out  to  ^'  a  clean  place  "  without  the  camp, 
and  there  burned  and  destroyed.     Is  not  the  symbolism 


i62  The  Mosaic  Era. 

very  instructive?  "As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west, 
so  far  hath  He  removed  our  transgressions  from  us." 
Our  sins,  where  are  they  ?  Away,  without  the  camp, 
out  of  sight,  destroyed,  forgotten.  Ourselves,  where  are 
we?  Our  Hfe  is  now  not  only  on  the  altar,  but  carried 
into  the  holy  place,  there  hid  in  the  secret  of  His 
presence.  Or  to  give  it  in  New  Testament  form  :  "  we 
are  dead,  and  our  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  "  (Col. 
iii.  3).  And  what  is  the  foundation  of  all  this  ?  Behold 
the  altar:  at  its  base  the  blood  of  atonement  plentifulh^ 
poured  out ;  on  its  summit  the  fat  of  the  sacrifice  arising 
with  acceptance  before  God. 

Anothei*  distinctive  feature  of  the  sin-offering  was 
the  limitation  to  one  animal.  In  the  burnt-offering  and 
the  peace-offering  there  might  be  many ;  but  in  the  sin- 
offering  only  one.  And  in  this  connection  it  is  very  in- 
teresting to  observe  the  manner  in  which  the  congrega- 
tion of  Israel  is  taught  to  identify  itself  with  its  sin- 
offering  (ver.  15):  "  And  the  elders  of  the  congregation 
shall  lay  their  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  bullock  before 
the  Lord."  A  most  impressive  picture  !  And  how  much 
of  hallowed  significance  in  its  typical  relations  do  we 
see,  in  the  light  of  that  great  sacrificial  prophecy  of 
Isaiah,  where,  speaking  of  the  coming  Saviour  as  One 
to  be  "  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,"  he  says  :  "  the 
Lord  hath  made  the  iniquities  of  us  all  to  meet  on  Him"! 
(Isa.  liii.  6,  margin). 

T/ie  Trespass-offering  may  be  considered  as  a  variety 
of  the  sin-offering.  The  one  shades  into  the  other,  as 
will  be  seen  by  reading  the  fifth  chapter,  verses  1-13, 
and  also  by  their  having  the  same  "law"  :  "  as  the  sin 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  163 

offering  is,  so  is  the  trespass-offering :  there  is  one  law 
for  them  "  (Lev.  vii.  7). 

The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  trespass-offer- 
ing proper  was  restitution.  The  offences  for  which  it 
was  offered  were  such  as  admitted  of  restitution,  and 
the  distinction  from  the  sin-offering  cannot  be  better  ex- 
pressed than  in  the  words  of  Cave :  ''  the  sin  and  tres- 
pass-offerings were  both  sacrifices  for  sins ;  but  in  the 
former  the  leading  idea  was  that  of  atonement^  the  ex- 
piation of  sin  by  a  substituted  life;  in  the  latter  the 
leading  feature  was  that  of  satisfaction^  the  wiping  out 
of  sin  by  the  payment  of  a  recompense."  "'^ 

It  is  well  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  trespass-offering 
for  sins  against  God,  the  ritual  prescribed  was  sacrifice 
first,  restitution  following ;  while  in  those  against  man 
the  order  was  reversed  :  restitution  first,  followed  by 
sacrifice  on  the  altar.  The  appropriateness  of  the  differ- 
ence will  be  readily  seen.  In  the  former  case,  where  the 
sin  consisted  in  withholding  from  God  that  which  was 
His  due,  it  was  not  really  God  that  lost  anything,  it  was 
the  sinner.  Giving  to  God  is  not  regarded  as  a  debt 
which  a  man  must  pay,  but  rather  as  a  privilege  which 
he  may  enjoy ;  and  accordingly  before  a  man  can  enjoy 
the  privilege  of  which  he  has  foolishly  deprived  himself, 
he  must  come  and  offer  his  sacrifice  upon  the  altar. 
But  when  the  sinner  has  been  withholding  from  his 
fellow-man  that  which  is  his  due,  the  delinquency  is  re- 
garded in  the  light  of  a  debt,  and  he  is  not  allowed  to 
go  to  the  altar  of  God  until  he  has  paid  his  debt,  and 


*  "Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice,"  p.  io6. 


164  The  Mosaic  Era. 

not  only  discharged  the  principal  in  full,  but  added  one- 
fifth  part  thereto  ;  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  may  he 
come  to  the  place  of  meeting  with  God.  We  know  the 
application  our  Lord  made  of  this  old  principle : 
''  when  thou  bringest  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and  there  re- 
memberest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee, 
leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar  and  go  thy  way,  first 
be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and  tJien  come  and  offer 
thy  gift."  And  it  is  as  important  now  as  ever  it  was, 
to  remember  that  if  any  of  us  have  wronged  our  neigh- 
bour, and  restitution  is  possible,  there  is  absolutely 
no  way  of  forgiveness  open  until  restitution  has  been 
made. 

2.  The  Burnt-offering  (chap,  i.)  We  have  already  seen 
that  the  burnt-offering,  being  the  old  historical  sacrifice,, 
included  in  itself  all  the  separate  ideas  which  were  ex- 
pressed in  the  different  offerings  ;  but  its  distinctive  fea- 
ture was  that  of  dedication,  self-surrender,  the  offerer's 
yielding  of  himself  unto  God.  Hence  it  was  entirely 
burnt  upon  the  altar,  and  yet  not  in  one  piece,  but  after 
its  different  pieces  had  been  carefully  separated  and 
cleansed  (ver.  6-9)  ;  and,  after  it  had  been  thus  prepared 
and  placed  upon  the  altar,  it  ascended  to  heaven  by  fire, 
''  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord  "  (ver.  9).  We  need  no 
other  commentary  upon  this  than  the  words  of  the 
Apostle  Paul  in  Romans  xii.  i  :  ''I  beseech  you  there- 
fore, brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God  [he  refers  especially 
to  the  gift  of  Christ  as  a  sin-offering,  which  has  been  the 
main  subject  of  the  previous  chapters],  that  ye  present 
your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God, 
which  is  your  reasonable  service."      There  we  have  not 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  165 

only  a  commentary  on  the  old  burnt-offering,  but  a  sug- 
gestive presentation  of  the  difference  between  the  old 
one  and  that  which  is  required  in  the  new  covenant. 
''Present  your  bodies"  (as  distinguished  from  the  bodies 
of  bulls  or  of  goats), ''  a  living  sacrifice  "  (as  distinguished 
from  the  slain  sacrifice  of  the  old  covenant,  ''  holy  " 
(there  we  have  the  significance  of  the  separation  of  the 
parts,  and  the  cleansing  of  the  inwards),  "  acceptable 
unto  God  "  (the  sweet  savour  of  Lev.  i.  9),  "  which  is  your 
reasonable  service  "  (as  distinguished  from  the  symbolical 
service  of  the  old  economy).  No  other  exposition  of  the 
symbolism  of  the  burnt-offering  is  needed  than  these 
striking  words. 

TJie  Meat-offering  (or  rather,  bread-offering,  for  the 
word  "  meat "  has  changed  its  meaning  since  our  trans- 
lation was  made)  was  an  accompaniment  of  the  burnt- 
offering,  and  therefore  must  be  looked  at  in  its  connec- 
tion with  it  (Lev.  ii.)  It  consisted  in  the  offering  of  fine 
flour  (ver.  i),  or  bread  made  of  fine  flour  (ver.  4,  5,  7), 
with  oil  and  frankincense  (ver.  i),  and  salt  (ver.  13).  Its 
symbolic  meaning  is  quite  obvious.  Just  as  the  burnt- 
offering  symbolized  the  dedication  of  the  man  himself  to 
God,  with  all  his  powers  and  faculties,  the  bread-offering 
signified  the  dedication  to  God  of  the  fruit  of  his 
labours,  the  produce  of  his  industry.  In  its  fullest  sense 
it  symbolized  the  dedication  of  his  life-energy  to  God  in 
holy  obedience.  The  close  association  of  bread  with  life 
throughout  the  Scriptures  is  quite  familiar  to  us,  and 
perhaps  our  Lord  had  this  offering  in  mind  when  He 
said :  "  My  meat  [bread]  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  Me,  and  to  finish  His  work"  (John  iv.  34).     But 


i66  The  Mosaic  Era. 

while  in  its  fullest  sense  the  bread-offering  may  be  un- 
derstood as  symbolizing  the  entire  new  life  which  is  the 
result  of  our  dedicating  of  ourselves  to  God,  its  most 
obvious  application  is  to  the  dedication  of  our  substance 
to  Him,  to  whom  we  have  dedicated  ourselves. 

The  oil  to  be  poured  upon  the  offering  has  here  its  in- 
variable significance  of  heavenly  grace,  and  the  frankin- 
cense the  devotional  spirit  in  which  the  offering  should 
be  presented.  The  salt  is  spoken  of  as  "  the  salt  of  the 
covenant  of  thy  God"  (ver.  13);  and  the  caution  never 
to  allow  it  to  be  lacking,  seems  to  guard  against  the 
danger  of  supposing,  that  our  gifts  to  the  Lord  can  find 
acceptance  in  any  other  way  than  through  the  provisions 
of  the  covenant  which  He  has  made  with  us  by  sacrifice 
(Ps.  1.  5).  The  things  prohibited  are  equally  suggestive 
with  the  things  enjoined.  They  are  leaven  and  honey : 
leaven,  the  symbol  of  corruption,  and  honey,  of  a  sweet- 
ness which  was  in  the  Hebrew  mind  especially  associated 
with  fermentation. 

The  disposal  of  the  offering  was  also  significant.  Part 
of  it  was  to  be  burnt  upon  the  altar  "  as  a  memorial  " 
(ver.  2,  6) ;  the  rest  was  set  apart  for  use  by  the  priests 
(ver.  3).  Inasmuch  as  the  priests  in  these  transactions 
represented  the  people,  while  the  altar  represented  God, 
the  idea  of  fellowship  or  sharing  is  here  conveyed,  as  if 
to  suggest  the  thought  that  while  all  our  energies  and 
all  our  substance  should  be  consecrated  to  God  in  the 
first  place,  the  sum  is  nevertheless  in  the  issue  divided 
between  the  more  sacred  and  the  more  personal  uses. 
In  the  matter  of  property,  for  instance,  the  true  idea  is 
not  to  give  a  portion  to  the  Lord  and  to  keep  the  rest 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  167 

for  ourselves,  but  to  give  all  to  God ;  and  then,  with  His 
approval  to  expend  so  much  on  personal  use,  and  set 
aside  so  much  for  consumption  on  the  altar.  But  while 
the  offering  is  to  be  thus  divided,  the  frankincense  is  to 
be  all  burnt  upon  the  altar  (ver.  2).  The  devotional  ele- 
ment is  for  God  alone.  You  have  heard,  perhaps,  of  the 
newspaper  writer  who,  referring  to  the  devotional  part  of 
the  service  in  one  of  the  churches  in  Boston,  spoke  of  his 
having  had  the  privilege  of  listening  to  ''  the  most  elo- 
quent prayer  that  was  ever  addressed  to  a  Boston  audi- 
ence." We  are  too  apt  to  forget  that  our  prayers  are 
not  for  Boston  audiences  or  London  audiences,  but  for 
the  audience  of  Heaven,  for  the  ear  of  God.  The  frank- 
incense was  all  to  be  burnt  upon  the  altar. 

3.  It  remains  to  consider  the  Pcacc-offering  {1.cy.  iii., 
vii.  28-34).^  As  the  name  implies,  the  prominent 
thought  in  these  sacrifices  was  the  blessed  result  of  draw- 
ing near  to  God  in  the  way  of  His  appointment.  "  Justi- 
fied by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God."  In  the  sin- 
offering  there  was  forgiveness,  in  the  burnt-offering 
acceptance,  in  the  meat-offering  consecration,  and  now 
in  the  peace-offering  there  is  peace  and  joy,  peace  with 
God  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  supreme  satisfaction 
of  the  soul  in  that  communion  with  God  which  has  been 
established  through  the  appointed  sacrifices.  Here,  as 
always,  there  is  the  idea  of  atonement  underlying  all ; 
for  in  these  sacrifices,  as  well  as  in  the  others,  there  was 


*  The  "  laws  "  of  the  different  offerings,  beginning  at  chapter  vi.  8, 
seem  to  be  supplementary  directions  to  the  priests.  In  the  case  of 
the  peace-offering  these  are  of  special  importance. 


1 68  The  Mosaic  Era. 

the  killing  of  the  animal,  the  laying  of  the  hand  upon 
its  head,  and  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood ;  and  not  only 
so,  but  the  new  offering  had  to  be  laid  ''  upon  the  burnt 
sacrifice  which  is  upon  the  wood  that  is  on  the  fire " 
(ver.  5),  viz.,  the  perpetual  burnt-offering  of  the  morning 
and  evening  sacrifice.  But  though  care  is  taken,  as  here- 
tofore, to  keep  before  the  view  of  the  worshipper  his 
entire  dependence  for  all  the  blessings  which  he  enjoys, 
upon  the  atonement  provided  by  the  Lord,  yet  the  char- 
acteristic features  are  found  later  on,  in  the  disposition 
of  the  parts.  This  was  the  only  sacrifice  in  which  there 
was  a  distribution  all  around,  so  to  speak :  part  to  the 
altar,  part  to  the  officiating  priest,  part  to  the  family  of 
the  priesthood,  part  to  the  worshipper  and  his  family, 
and  the  remains,  if  any,  given  to  the  poor.  It  was  essen- 
tially a  festal  sacrifice,  the  idea  of  joyful  communion 
shining  out  in  it. 

The  details  of  the  distribution  seem  quite  significant 
also.  The  choicest  and  most  inward  parts  belonged  to 
the  altar,  and  were  to  be  burned  upon  it,  which  seems  to 
indicate  that  our  deepest  emotions  of  gratitude  and  love 
should  ascend  to  God.  Then,  after  the  inward  parts  had 
been  thus  removed,  the  best  of  what  remained  went  to 
"  Aaron  and  his  sons,"  after  having  been  "  waved  "  to 
the  Lord ;  and  when  we  remember  that  the  priesthood 
represented  God  on  the  one  hand  and  the  people  on  the 
other,  we  see  how  strikingly  the  conception  of  commu- 
nion was  conveyed  in  this  part  of  the  ritual.  Then,  while 
the  general  priesthood  occupied  a  position  of  mediation 
between  God  and  the  people,  the  officiating  priest  occu- 
pied for  the  time  the  position  of  mediator  between  God 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  169 

and  the  worshipper,  and  accordingly  the  best  of  what 
remained,  viz.,  the  right  shoulder,  was  assigned  to  him, 
after  having  been  "  heaved "  to  the  Lord,  as  the  other 
had  been  waved.  The  appropriateness  of  waving  {i.  e., 
with  a  horizontal  motion  towards  the  tabernacle),  in  the 
first  instance,  and  of  heaving  {i.  ^.,  with  a  vertical  motion, 
as  if  to  place  upon  the  altar)  in  the  other,  will  be  seen 
when  we  remember  that  the  high-priest,  who  was  speci- 
ally in  view  in  the  waving,  had  the  privilege  of  going 
into  the  most  holy  place,  towards  which  the  offering  was 
waved,  whereas  the  officiating  priest  had  for  his  special 
duty  simply  the  placing  of  the  sacrifice  upon  the  altar. 
In  each  case  the  ceremony  meant  to  convey  the  Divine 
participation  in  the  joy  of  the  occasion.  Then,  if  the 
burning  of  the  inwards  upon  the  altar  may  be  rightly 
interpreted  as  signifying  the  consecration  of  our  deepest 
feelings  to  the  Lord,  we  need  not  think  it  too  fanciful  to 
find  in  the  wave  breast  and  heave  shoulder,  that  were 
given  to  the  priests,  the  consecration  of  heart  and  hand 
to  the  service  of  God  in  His  sanctuary ;  while  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  remainder  by  the  worshipper  showed  the 
large  participation  which  he  has  in  the  abounding  joy  of 
the  occasion,  a  joy  which  may  flow  over  so  as  to  bless 
those  who  are  not  so  richly  privileged  as  himself. 

The  caution  not  to  allow  any  to  remain  over  till  the 
morning,  seems  to  suggest  that  the  enjoyment  of  spirit- 
ual blessings  must  always  be  kept  closely  associated  with 
the  sacrifices  on  the  ground  of  which  they  are  enjoyed. 
Even  in  our  times  of  richest  spiritual  enjoyment,  and 
then  perhaps  especially,  we  have  need  to  present  the 
prayer:  "Saviour,  keep  me  near  the  cross."     Each  time 


I/O  The  Mosaic  Era. 

the  table  Is  spread  for  us  in  the  presence  of  our  enemies, 
we  must  approach  it  by  the  way  of  the  altar. 

And  now,  is  not  even  this  hasty  survey  of  the  differ- 
ent offerings  sufficient  to  convince  us  of  their  exceeding 
value  as  an  educating  power  in  Israel,  leading  the  truly 
devout  amongst  the  people  to  an  intense  hatred  of  sin, 
and  thorough,  hearty,  and  happy  consecration  to  God  ? 

What  a  complete  and  orderly  system  of  saving  truth, 
beginning  with  the  exceeding  evil  of  sin,  and  ending 
with  the  surpassing  joys  of  fellowship  with  God,  the 
bridge  between  the  two  being  found  in  the  successive 
presentation  of  atonement  (in  the  sin-offering),  satisfac- 
tion (in  the  trespass-offering),  and  justification  as  the 
result,  followed  by  dedication  and  acceptance  (in  the 
burnt-offering),  consecration  and  sanctification  (in  the 
bread-offering),  the  climax  of  all  being  reached  in  the 
sacred  and  heavenly  joy  symbolized  in  the  peace-offer- 
ing. Ah,  verily,  there  was  far  more  of  true  value  for  the 
world  in  the  Hebrew  ritual  of  the  altar  than  in  all  Greek 
philosophy  or  classic  art.  There  was  in  it,  there  is  in  it 
still,  when  read  not  in  "  the  letter  which  killeth,"  but 
according  to  '^  the  spirit  which  giveth  life,"  a  mighty 
power  that  makes  for  righteousness. 

III.  How  Christ  fulfilled  the  Ritual  of  the 
Altar. 

So  far,  we  have  been  considering  the  symbolic  mean- 
ing of  the  sacrifices  which  were  offered  on  the  altar  in 
the  court,  a  meaning  which  would  be  more  obvious  to 
the  Hebrews  than  it  can  be  to  us.  But  before  passing 
from  the  subject,  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  their 
typical  meaning,  the  relation  which  they  sustained,  as 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  171 

germs  or  buds,  to  the  flower  and  fruit  of  "  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus."  Inasmuch  as  we  who  live  in  these  later 
days  have  in  this  department  an  advantage  over  those 
who  lived  under  the  old  covenant,  our  best  plan  will  be 
to  shift  our  point  of  view  ;  so  that,  instead  of  looking 
at  the  sacrifices  and  asking  how  they  typified  Christ,  we 
shall  look  at  Christ  and  ask  how  He  fulfilled  them. 

One  of  our  Lord's  earliest  utterances  when  He  entered 
on  His  ministry  was  this  :  "  Think  not  that  I  am  come 
to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets  ;  I  am  not  come  to 
destroy,  but  to  fulfil."  And  again,  ''  Till  heaven  and 
earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass 
from  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled."  It  follows,  then,  that 
inasmuch  as  the  sacrifices  of  the  altar  have  passed  away, 
it  must  have  been  not  by  simple  abrogation,  but  by  ful- 
filment ;  and  therefore  we  are  entitled  to  ask  how  it  was 
that  they  were  fulfilled.  This  inquiry  would  not  have  been 
a  very  difficult  one,  if  we  had  had  only  the  life  of  Christ  to 
guide  us  ;  but  it  is  much  simplified  by  the  light  thrown 
upon  the  subject  throughout  the  Epistles,  and  most  of 
all  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  the  rela- 
tions of  the  old  to  the  new  covenant  are  specifically 
treated. 

The  locus  classicus  on  the  subject  is  Hebrews  x.  1-14. 
The  entire  passage  is  of  great  importance,  but  in  the 
eighth  and  ninth  verses,  especially,  we  have  the  gateway 
into  the  whole  territory  which  we  wish  to  explore  : 
"  Above  when  He  [Christ]  said.  Sacrifice  and  offering 
and  burnt-offerings  and  offering  for  sin  Thou  wouldest 
not,  neither  hadst  pleasure  therein  ;  which  are  offered 
by  the  law  ;   then  said  He,  Lo,  I  come  to  do  Thy  will, 


\j2  The  Mosaic  Era. 

O  God."  These  words  are  quoted  from  the  fortieth 
Psalm.  They  were  originally  the  words  of  David,  who 
was  the  Lord's  anointed  {i.e.,  the  Christ)  of  the  time, 
and  in  their  prophetical  import  were  fulfilled  when  Christ 
came  into  the  world  :  ''  Wherefore  when  He  cometJi  into 
the  zvorldy  He  saith,  Lo,  I  come  to  do  Thy  will,  O  God." 
Here  Christ  is  represented  as  taking  the  place  of  the 
Old  Testament  sacrifices,  as  He  entered  on  the  great 
work  He  had  to  do  for  man  upon  the  earth.  But  while 
all  the  sacrifices  are  in  prospect,  that  which  is  imme- 
diately in  view  is  the  bnrnt-offering,  which  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  old  original  sacrifice  from  which  the  others 
were  offshoots.  The  idea,  you  will  see,  is  the  central 
idea  of  dedication  :  ''  Lo,  I  come  to  do  Thy  will,  O  God." 
Here,  then,  we  have,  in  that  spirit  of  dedication  with 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  entered  upon  His  work,  laying 
Himself  as  it  were  on  the  altar  for  us  from  the  very  out- 
set, the  fulfilment  of  the  burnt-offering  as  set  forth  in 
Leviticus  i.  And  hence  the  appropriateness  with  which 
John  the  Baptist,  at  the  very  outset,  pointed  Him  out 
in  these  terms,  referring,  we  believe,  chiefly  to  the  burnt- 
offering  of  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice :  **  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God  !  " 

The  burnt-offering,  we  have  seen,  was  followed  by  a 
meat-offering  (bread-offering).  The  symbolical  meaning 
of  this  we  found  to  be  that  the  dedication  of  self  was 
followed  by  the  consecration  of  all  the  energies  to  God. 
And  accordingly  we  find  the  Lord  Jesus  wholly  devoted 
in  all  His  energies  to  the  great  work  for  which  He  laid 
Himself  upon  the  altar,  so  that  He  could  say  :  *'  My 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me,  and  to  finish 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  173 

His  work  "  (John  iv.  34).  And  just  as  the  memorial  of 
the  bread-offering  was  divided  between  the  altar,  which 
represented  God,  and  the  priests,  who  represented  the 
people,  so  we  find  that  later  on  Christ  speaks  of  Himself 
as  the  "Bread  of  God"  and  "the  Bread  of  Life,"  offered 
upon  the  altar  of  God  in  the  one  character,  and  in  the 
other  ministered  to  His  people  for  their  sustenance  : 
"  He  that  eateth  Me,  the  same  shall  live  by  Me"  (John 
vi-  33>  57)-  And  so,  throughout  the  entire  life  of  con- 
secration which  our  Saviour  led,  a  life  which  was  first 
offered  up  to  God  upon  the  altar,  and  besides  is  com- 
municated to  us  that  we  may  share  in  it,  we  have  the 
fulfilment  of  the  bread-offering  of  Leviticus  ii. 

Later  on  in  His  ministry,  the  delightful  thoughts  of 
the  peace-offering  come  into  prominence,  viz.,  peace  and 
joy  and  blessed  communion.  The  whole  atmosphere  of 
the  peace-offering  is  diffused  throughout  those  sacred 
chapters  in  John  (xiii.-xvii.),  v/here  we  have  the  record 
of  the  closest  communion,  first  of  the  disciples  with 
their  Master,  and  then  of  the  Master  Himself  with  the 
Father  in  heaven.  There  we  have  the  institution  of  the 
Sacred  Feast  which,  while  connected  historically  with 
the  Passover,  is  in  its  spirit  and  associations  most 
closely  linked  with  the  peace-offering,  and  accordingly 
is  appropriately  called  "the  Eucharist"  (chap,  xiii.) 
There  we  find  the  gracious  benediction,  "  Peace  I  leave 
with  you.  My  peace  I  give  unto  you  :  not  as  the  world 
giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled, 
neither  let  it  be  afraid"  (chap,  xiv.)  There,  too,  we 
hear  Him  saying :  "  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto 
you,  that  My  joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your 


174  The  Mosaic  Era. 

joy  might  be  full"  (chap,  xv.)  There,  also,  He  gives 
the  assurance  that  though  there  must  be  the  pang  of 
parting  from  Himself,  yet  in  a  little  while  the  Comforter 
will  come  to  remain  with  them  for  ever,  bringing  a  joy 
that  shall  be  abiding  and  full  (chap,  xvi.)  And  there, 
above  all.  He  pours  out  His  whole  soul  in  prayer  for 
that  unity  of  fellowship,  which  the  peace-offering  so 
beautifully  symbolized  between  the  Holy  Father,  the 
Priest,  and  the  people  :  "  that  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as 
Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also 
may  be  one  in  Us  "  (chap,  xvii.)  There,  there,  is  the  ful- 
filment of  the  peace-offering  in  Leviticus  iii. 

And  now  the  time  has  come  that  tJie  sin-offering  must 
be  presented.  He,  who  from  the  beginning  has  ''  given 
Himself  for  us,  as  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God  for 
a  sweet-smelling  savour"  (Eph.  v.  2),  must  now,  though 
"  He  knew  no  sin,"  ''  become  sin  for  us."  And  so,  in  a 
painfully  literal  sense,  the  sacrifice  is  bound  upon  the 
altar.  Not  the  old  altar  of  burnt-offering  that  stood  in 
the  court,  for  that  would  have  limited,  or  seemed  to 
limit,  the  atonement  to  those  who  had  a  position  of 
special  privilege  within  the  sacred  precincts. 

"  There  is  a  green  hill  far  away,  without  the  city  wall, 
Where  our  dear  Lord  was  crucified,  who  died  to  save  us  all. " 

The  cross  was  an  altar  for  the  world.  And  there  was 
an  additional  significance  in  its  being  outside  the  city,  as 
is  shown  in  that  very  striking  passage  in  Hebrews  xlii. 
10-12:  "We  have  an  altar,  whereof  they  have  no  right 
to  eat  that  serve  the  tabernacle.  For  the  bodies  of  those 
beasts  whose  blood  is  brought  into  the  sanctuary  by  the 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  175 

high- priest  for  sin,  are  burned  without  the  camp.  Where- 
fore Jesus  also,  that  He  might  sanctify  the  people  with 
His  own  blood,  suffered  without  the  gate."  There  was 
the  fulfilment  of  the  sin-offering  in  Leviticus  iv.  And  of 
the  trespass-offering  too  (Lev.  v.  vi.) ;  for  that  precious 
life  was  given  as  a  ransom  for  us,  "  a  ransom  for  all  " 
(i  Tim.  ii.  6). 

In  the  ritual  of  the  sin-offering,  one  of  the  regulations 
was  this :  "  Where  the  ashes  are  poured  out,  there  shall 
he  be  burnt  "  (Lev.  iv.  12).  And  in  the  law  of  the  burnt- 
offering  it  was  ordained  that  the  ashes  should  be  carried 
v/ithout  the  camp  to  a  clean  place  (Lev.  vi.  1 1).  May 
not  these  have  been  in  the  mind  of  the  Evangelist  when 
he  tells  us  that  the  place  where  the  Lord  was  crucified 
was  called  ''the  place  of  a  skull"  (John  xix.  17);  and 
(after  all  was  over),  ''  now  in  the  place  where  He  was 
crucified  there  was  a  garden  ;  and  in  the  garden  a  new 
sepulchre  [a  place  of  ashes  too,  but  a  '  clean  place '  not- 
withstanding] wherein  was  never  man  yet  laid.  There 
laid  they  Jesus." 

"  At  length  the  worst  is  o'er,  and  Thou  art  laid 

Deep  in  Thy  darksome  bed  ; 
All  still  and  cold  beneath  yon  dreary  stone 

Thy  sacred  form  is  gone  ; 
Around  those  lips  where  power  and  mercy  hung. 

The  dews  of  death  have  clung  ; 
The  dull  earth  o'er  Thee,  and  Thy  foes  around. 
Thou  sleep'st  a  silent  corse,  in  funeral  fetters  wound." 

Here  we  part  company  with  the  typical  meaning  of 
the  Sacrifices.     They  leave  the  victim  in  the  place  of 


176  The  Mosaic  Era. 

ashes.  But  though  He  died  as  our  Sacrifice,  He  lives  as 
our  great  High-priest,  and  when  we  pass  to  the  next 
department  of  the  ritual,  we  shall  find  Him  carrying  the 
blood  into  the  holy  place  for  us. 

Meantime  we  must  not  leave  the  subject  of  the  ritual 
of  the  altar,  without  a  word  in  conclusion  as  to  the  ful- 
filment of  the  sacrifices  which  is  required  of  us.  In  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  after  presenting  Christ  as  the 
sin-offering,  these  earnest,  practical  words  are  added  : 
"  By  Him  therefore  let  us  offer  the  sacrifice  of  praise  to 
God  continually,  that  is,  the  fruit  of  our  lips  giving 
thanks  to  His  name.  But  to  do  good  and  to  communicate 
forget  not :  for  with  such  sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased  " 
(Heb.  xiii.  15,  16).  There  is  no  sin-oft^ering  required  of 
us  now.  "  It  is  finished."  "  By  one  offering  he  hath 
perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified."  But  thank- 
offerings  we  should  present  continually,  and  votive  offer- 
ings, in  the  spirit  of  the  ii6th  Psalm.  And  not  only  so, 
but  vv^e  should  present  ourselves  as  a  whole  burnt-offer- 
ing. "  Ye  are  not  your  own  :  ye  are  bought  with  a  price, 
therefore  glorify  God  with  your  bodies  and  with  your 
spirits,  which  are  His." 

No  more  appropriate  close  to  the  great  subject  of  the 
ritual  of  the  altar  could  be  imagined,  than  that  grand 
benediction  with  which  the  subject  is  closed  in  the 
epistle  from  which  we  have  quoted  so  much  :  "  Now 
may  the  God  of  peace,  that  brought  again  from  the  dead 
our  Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make 
you  perfect  [there  is  the  ark,  there  is  the  law,  there  is  the 


Ritual  of  the  Altar.  177 

goal  of  HOLINESS  which  must  ever  be  full  in  the  view 
of  the  worshipper  at  the  altar]  In  every  good  work  to  do 
His  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is  well-pleasing  in 
His  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  to  Whom  be  glory  for 
ever  and  ever.     Amen." 


XII. 

RITUAL    OF    THE    HOLY    PLACE. 

LEVITICUS  VIII.-X. 

AS  the  altar  in  the  court  was  the  place  of  worship 
for  the  people,  the  first  or  outer  apartment  of  the 
Tabernacle  was  the  place  of  worship  for  the  priests. 
None  else  had  the  right  to  enter  within  the  door ;  but  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  priests  day  by  day  to  go  into  the 
Holy  Place  to  trim  and  furnish  the  lamps  of  the  golden 
candlestick,  and  burn  incense  upon  the  golden  altar;  and 
week  by  week  to  replenish  the  bread  upon  the  golden 
table.  From  this  it  follows  that  the  subject  of  the  priest- 
hood belongs  especially  to  the  ritual  of  the  Holy  Place. 
It  is  true  that  the  services  of  the  priests  were  necessary 
in  order  to  offer  sacrifices  upon  the  altar  of  burnt-offer- 
ing in  the  court ;  but  these  services  were  of  an  entirely 
different  order  from  those  which  were  rendered  in  the 
Holy  Place,  and  accordingly  it  is  not  until  after  the 
ritual  of  the  altar  is  concluded  that  we  have  the  account 
of  the  consecration  of  the  priests  (chap.  viii.  ix.) 

The  Holy  Place  being  a  part  of  the  Tabernacle  or  tent 

of  God,  to  enter  it  was  to  enter  the  house  of  God,  to 

hold  personal  communion  with  Him — not  of  the  most 

intimate  kind,  for  even  after  the   Holy  Place  was  en- 

(173) 


Ritual  of  the  Huly  Place.  179 

tered,  there  was  the  veil  drawn  across  the  entrance  to  the 
inner  chamber  where  was  the  Mercy-Seat,  the  throne  of 
God.  But  though  the  veil  still  closed  the  entrance  to 
the  Holiest  of  all,  there  was  true  communion  with  God 
to  be  enjoyed  in  the  Holy  Place ;  and  the  greatness  of 
the  privilege  was  symbolized,  first  in  the  magnificence  of 
the  apartment,  with  its  gleaming  colours  and  its  burning 
gold,  and  then  in  the  significance  of  the  table  on  which 
was  spread  "  the  bread  of  the  presence,"  of  the  lamp 
with  its  seven  lights  which  never  went  out,  and  of  the 
sweet  incense  which  rose  from  the  golden  altar. 

All  this  was  for  Israel,  or  why  should  it  be  there  ? 
And  yet  how  could  Israel  enjoy  it  ?  "  Without  holiness 
no  man  can  see  the  Lord."  How  then  can  Israel  that  is 
unholy  be  allowed  to  enter  ?  The  priesthood  was  the 
solution  of  the  problem.  It  is  true  that  the  priests  were 
not  really  holy,  any  more  than  the  people  were ;  but 
they  were  symbolically  holy ;  and  thus  in  symbol  the 
truth  was  constantly  kept  before  the  eyes  of  all — that 
only  holy  people  can  enter  the  Holy  Place. 

It  is  most  important  to  bear  in  mind,  in  dealing  with 
the  subject  now  before  us,  that  the  priests  were  the 
representatives  of  the  people.  When  the  priest  received 
the  sacrifice  for  the  altar  at  the  hand  of  the  worshipper 
in  the  court,  he  acted  as  the  representative  of  God ;  but 
when  he  entered  the  Holy  Place,  it  was  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  people.  So  far  as  the  priests  themselves 
were  concerned  personally,  they  were  in  no  better  posi- 
tion in  things  pertaining  to  God  than  the  rest  of  the 
people ;  and  hence  it  was  only  in  their  official  capacity 
as  representatives  of  the  entire  congregation  that  they 


i8o  The  Mosaic  Era. 

entered  the  door  of  the  Tabernacle.  And  accordingly 
they  dare  not  enter  it  except  in  certain  vestments  and 
after  certain  ceremonies,  which  were  all  intended  to  in- 
vest with  a  symbolic  holiness  those  who  should  as  repre- 
sentatives of  Israel  enter  the  Holy  Place.  So  that,  when 
the  congregation  of  Israel  saw  a  priest,  clothed  in  white 
robes,  after  offering  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  and  washing 
hands  and  feet  at  the  laver  before  the  door,  entering  the 
Holy  Place,  where  were  the  table  and  the  candlestick 
and  the  golden  altar,  they  were  taught  the  precious 
truth  that  there  was  a  way  open  for  them,  through  sacri- 
fice and  by  washing,  of  entering  with  the  white  robes  of 
holiness  into  the  presence  of  the  Most  High,  there  to 
sit  at  His  table,  rejoice  in  His  light,  and  worship  at  His 
altar. 

We  are  now  prepared  for  looking  intelligently  at  the 
impressive  service  before  us.  "  And  the  Lord  spake 
unto  Moses,  saying.  Take  Aaron  and  his  sons  with  him 
(i),  and  the  garments  (2),  and  the  anointing  oil  (3),  and 
a  bullock  for  the  sin-offering,  and  two  rams,  and  a  basket 
of  unleavened  bread  (4) ;  and  gather  thou  all  the  con- 
gregation together  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  " 
(viii.  I,  2).  The  congregation  are  to  be  gathered,  for  it 
is  as  their  representatives  that  the  priests  are  to  be  set 
apart.  Their  attention  is  directed  to  the  door  of  the 
Tabernacle,  for  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  opening  that 
door  to  them  that  the  ceremonies  of  consecration  are 
held. 

And  now.  In  considering  the  services,  we  shall  follow 
the  order  indicated  above  in  the  directions  given  to 
Moses,  which  will  give  us  (i)  the  separation  of  Aaron 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  i8i 

and  his  sons,  (2)  their  investiture,  (3)  their  anointing,  and 
(4)  the  sacrifices  of  consecration. 

I.  The  Separation  of  Aaron  and  his  Sons. 

We  are  already  familiar  with  the  use  that  has  been 
made  of  separation  in  the  third  age  to  inculcate  the 
absolute  necessity  of  holiness  in  order  to  intercourse 
with  God.  Abraham  was  separated  from  an  idolatrous 
and  wicked  world,  to  be  the  head  of  a  family  and  a  na- 
tion that  should  be  holy  to  the  Lord  ;  and  accordingly, 
in  comparison  with  the  heathen  world  Israel  as  a  whole 
was  a  priesthood,  as  is  set  forth  in  Exodus  xix.  6  :  ''Ye 
shall  be  unto  Me  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  na- 
tion." Observe  now  how  the  same  principle  is  further 
carried  out.  From  the  entire  nation  one  tribe,  the  tribe 
of  Levi,  is  set  apart  to  be,  above  all  the  others,  holy 
unto  the  Lord.  From  the  tribe  of  Levi,  one  family, 
that  of  Aaron,  is  set  apart  to  be,  above  all  the  other 
families  of  the  tribe,  holy  unto  the  Lord.  And  finally, 
from  the  family  of  Aaron  a  single  individual,  the  high- 
priest,  is  set  apart  to  be,  above  all  the  other  members 
of  the  family,  holy  unto  the  Lord.  The  washing  with 
water  (ver.  6)  led  the  mind  still  farther  in  the  same 
direction. 

The  effect  of  this  on  the  minds  of  the  people  may 
perhaps  be  illustrated  in  this  way.  Suppose  you  wish 
to  give  the  idea  of  perfectly  pure  water  to  some  person 
who  has  never  seen  it,  and  you  have  no  means  of  show- 
ing him  the  genuine  article.  By  taking  water  in  different 
degrees  of  impurity,  and  leading  him  to  look  at  the  dif- 
ferent specimens,  beginning  with  that  which  is  most 
impure  and  going  on  to  that  which  is  least,  you  will  at 


1 82  The  Mosaic  Era. 

all  events  set  his  mind  in  the  direction  of  the  conception 
which  you  wish  him  to  attain.  And  in  the  same  way, 
though  there  was  no  way  open  of  showing  Israel  at  this 
time  a  genuine  specimen  of  that  holiness  without  which 
no  man  can  see  the  Lord,  yet  by  these  successive  sepa- 
rations of  officially  (or  if  you  choose,  artificially)  holy 
persons,  the  mind  of  Israel  was  set  in  the  direction  of 
that  holiness  up  to  which  the  Lord  was  educating  them. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  they  had  the  moral  law  to 
help  them  to  translate  the  symbolical  holiness  into  the 
reality,  of  which  it  was  the  mere  expression  in  language 
addressed  to  the  eye. 

While  Aaron  and  his  sons  represented  Israel,  they 
typified  Christ  and  His  Church.  The  high-priest  was 
the  type  of  Christ  Himself,  as  we  shall  see  more  particu- 
larly when  we  come  to  the  investiture.  The  priests,  the 
sons  of  Aaron,  typified  those  who,  on  account  of  their 
relationship  to  Christ,  are  admitted  into  the  family  of 
God,  and  enjoy  all  the  privileges  of  His  house.  It  is  an 
entire  mistake  to  apply  the  term  "  priest  "  to  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ  under  the  new  covenant.  There  is  not  a 
single  passage  in  the  New  Testament  to  justify  it,  or 
give  any  colour  to  it,  while  again  and  again  we  are  re- 
minded that  all  true  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
are  "  priests  unto  God." 

II.  The  Investiture. 

We  use  the  word  in  its  strictly  etymological  sense. 
It  was  by  the  putting  on  of  the  appointed  garments 
that  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  invested  with  office. 
The  investiture  of  the  high-priest  comes  first  (ver.  7-9). 
The  order  in  which  the  g-arments  are  mentioned  both 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  183 

here  and  in  Exodus  xxix.,  where  the  directions  for  this 
service  are  given,  is  the  order  of  convenience  in  putting 
them  on,  beginning  with  the  inner  garments  and  ending 
with  those  that  were  put  on  last.  It  will  probably  be 
better  for  us  to  follow  the  order  of  Exodus  xxviii.,  which, 
being  the  order  of  revelation,  is  more  likely  to  be  signifi- 
cant ;  and  besides,  the  account  there  is  fuller  than  any- 
where else. 

First  in  order  comes  the  Ephod,  with  its  **  curious 
girdle,"  and  the  onyx  stones  upon  its  shoulder-pieces 
(Exod.  xxviii.  6-14).  The  ephod  was  the  distinctive 
priestly  garment  (see  i  Sam.  ii.  28).  It  hung  upon  the 
shoulders  down  to  the  waist,  and  was  formed  of  the 
most  costly  and  beautiful  materials,  corresponding  ex- 
actly to  those  employed  in  the  interior  decoration  of  the 
Holy  Place.  The  girdle  was  made  of  the  same  materials, 
with  the  same  combination  of  colours.  As  garments 
were  associated  in  the  Hebrew  mind  with  character,  and 
the  girdle  with  energy  in  work,  we  find  in  the  corre- 
spondence of  both  with  the  interior  of  the  Holy  Place, 
a  memorial  of  the  necessity  that  those  who  enter  the 
house  of  the  Lord  must  be  themselves  holy  and  beauti- 
ful in  character,  and  be  engaged  in  high  and  holy  service. 
But  the  most  important  part  of  the  ephod  were  the 
shoulder-pieces,  on  which  were  set  two  onyx  stones,  with 
the  names  of  the  tribes  engraven  on  them,  six  on  the 
one  and  six  on  the  other;  and  (ver.  12)  "Aaron  shall 
bear  their  names  before  the  Lord  upon  his  two  shoulders 
for  a  memorial."  Here  we  have  the  idea  of  representa- 
tion most  clearly  and  beautifully  symbolized.  The 
shoulders,    to   a    Hebrew   mind,    were    the    symbol   of 


i84  The  Mosaic  Era. 

strength  ;  and  the  idea  was,  that  when  the  high-priest 
entered  the  Holy  Place,  he  did  not  go  alone,  but  carried 
with  him  on  his  strong  shoulders  the  children  of  Israel, 
whom  he  represented  ;  and  the  estimation  in  which  the 
people  were  held  was  expressed  in  the  value  of  the 
precious  stones  on  which  the  names  were  engraved, 
and  the  setting  of  pure  gold  with  which  they  were  sur- 
rounded. 

The  Breastplate  comes  next  (ver.  1 5-30),  on  which  were 
set  in  gold  twelve  different  precious  stones  ;  and  on  these 
again  were  engraven  the  names  of  the  twelve  children  of 
Israel ;  and  (ver.  29)  "  Aaron  shall  bear  the  names  of  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  breastplate  of  judgment  tLpoi 
his  hearty  when  he  goeth  in  into  the  holy  place,  for  a 
memorial  before  the  Lord  continually."  Not  only  on 
his  shoulders,  the  seat  of  strength,  but  on  his  heart,  the 
seat  of  love.  And  just  as  the  use  of  the  same  stone  for 
all  on  the  shoulder-pieces  symbolized  the  unity  of  the 
people,  the  use  of  the  different  stones  in  the  breast- 
plate symbolized  the  diversity  in  unity  and  taught  the 
delightful  truth,  that  not  only  the  children  as  an  entire 
family,  but  each  separate  child,  with  all  its  individual 
peculiarities,  is  affectionately  remembered  in  the  holy 
and  beautiful  house  of  the  Lord. 

The  Urim  and  Thummim  (ver.  30)  which  were  to  be 
''  put  in  the  breastplate  "  are  not  described,  and  there- 
fore we  cannot  tell  with  certainty  what  form  the  represen- 
tation took.  The  words  mean  *'  lights  and  perfection  "  ; 
and  inasmuch  as  the  idea  of  guidance  is  regularly  asso- 
ciated with  the  Urim  and  Thummin,  the  thought  seems 
clear  enough.     ''  Lights  "  will  mean  that  heavenly  guid- 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  185 

ance  which  comes  as  a  good  and  perfect  gift  from  '^  the 
Father  of  lights,"  and  "  perfection,"  the  glory  to  which 
the  guidance  leads.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely,  then,  that 
the  Urim  and  Thummin  was  some  symbolic  representa- 
tion of  the  Law.  It  was  by  the  Law,  as  a  heavenly 
/zo^/it,  that  Israel  was  guided,  and  it  was  to  thd.t  perfec- 
tion of  holiness  which  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law,  that 
their  feet  were  to  be  constantly  turned.  The  Law,  as 
"  perfection,"  gave  them  the  dii'cctioii  in  which  they 
must  travel ;  as  "  lights,"  it  kept  them  from  diverging  to 
the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  as  they  journeyed  on  from  day 
to  day.  "  The  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light 
(the  Urim)  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect 
day  "  (the  Thummin).  "  Thou  shall  guide  me  by  Thy 
counsel  (Urim),  and  afterwards  receive  me  to  Thy  glory  " 
(Thummin). 

If  we  are  correct  in  supposing  that  the  Urim  and 
Thummin  meant  some  symbolic  representation  of  the 
Law,  it  is  quite  likely  that  those  are  correct  who  think 
that  the  twelve  precious  stones  were  arranged  round  the 
Urim  and  Thummin,  very  much  as  the  children  of  Israel 
v/ere  arranged  in  camp  around  the  Tabernacle,  the  centre 
of  which  we  have  seen  was  the  Law  deposited  in  the  ark. 
And  inasmuch  as  the  word  '' judgment"  is  very  fre- 
quently used  to  designate  the  Law,  we  may  have  in  this 
a  full  explanation  of  verse  30  :  ''  And  thou  shalt  put  in  the 
breastplate  of  judgment  the  Urim  and  the  Thummim  ; 
and  they  shall  be  upon  Aaron's  heart,  when  he  goeth  in 
before  the  Lord:  and  Aaron  shall  bear  the  judgment  of 
the  children  of  Israel  upon  his  heart  before  the  Lord  con- 
tinnallyy 


1 86  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Following  the  breastplate  is  the  Robe  of  the  ephod, 
with  its  hem  (ver.  31-35).  This  was  a  long  robe,  worn 
under  the  ephod,  and  appearing  below  it.  It  was  all  of 
blue,  the  heavenly  colour,  as  was  the  cloth  which  covered 
the  ark  when  it  was  carried  on  the  priests'  shoulders  in 
sight  of  the  people  (Num.  iv.  5,  6).  Chief  attention  is 
directed  to  its  hem,  which  consisted  of  a  fringe  adorned 
with  bells  and  pomegranates  alternately,  the  bells  being 
of  gold,  and  the  pomegranates  of  the  other  characteristic 
colours  of  the  interior  of  the  Holy  Place.  The  pome- 
granate was  the  queen  fruit  of  Palestine.  It  was  large 
and  full  of  innumerable  seeds,  and  was  therefore  the 
best  emblem  of  that  fruitfulness  which  is  expected  of 
those  who  are  privileged  to  live  in  communion  with  God. 
The  bells  are  significant  of  joy,  and  of  that  communica- 
tion of  blessing  to  others  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
priestly  office.  It  is  probably  to  the  ringing  of  the 
golden  bells  on  the  hem  of  the  high-priest's  robe  that 
reference  is  made  in  such  a  passage  as  Psalm  Ixxxix. 
15:  ''Blessed  are  the  people  that  know  the  joyful 
sound." 

Lastly,  the  Mitre,  with  its  plate  of  pure  gold,  on  which 
was  inscribed,  ''  Holiness  to  the  Lord  "  (ver.  36-38).  In 
the  high-priest's  garments,  as  in  the  Tabernacle  itself, 
the  culmination  of  all  is  in  "  holiness  to  the  Lord." 
"  Holiness  to  the  Lord  "  was  the  sum  of  the  ten  com- 
mandments graven  on  stone,  and  deposited  in  the  ark  of 
the  covenant ;  and  now  it  must  also  be  graven  in  gold, 
set  in  a  setting  of  heaven's  purest  azure  (ver.  37),  and 
displayed  upon  the  forehead  of  the  high-priest ;  and  here 
again  the  representative  character  of  Aaron  is  distinctly 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  187 

brought  out :  '^  it  shall  be  always  on  HIS  forehead   that 
THEY  may  be  accepted  before  the  Lord  "  (ver.  38). 

And  now  let  me  enumerate  the  main  ideas  which  are 
symbolized  in  the  vestments  of  the  high-priest.  The 
ephod  with  its  girdle  signified  the  beautiful  character 
and  the  exalted  service  which  are  becoming  to  the  Holy 
Place ;  and  the  shoulder-pieces  and  the  breastplate,  with 
the  precious  stones  and  the  engraving  on  them,  signified 
that  the  children  of  Israel  as  a  whole  and  each  child  in- 
dividually, was  borne  on  the  strong  shoulders  and  carried 
in  the  warm  heart  of  their  representative  in  the  presence 
of  the  Lord,  giving  the  conceptions  of  strength  to  sustain 
and  love  to  cherish  ;  the  Urim  and  Thummim  added  the 
thought  of  heavenly  guidance  along  a  path  that  "  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day  " ;  the  pomegran- 
ates and  bells  on  the  blue  robe  of  the  ephod  symbolized 
heavenly  fruitfulness  and  joy  ;  while  the  climax  of  all 
was  reached  in  the  golden  graving  of  holiness  unto  the 
Lord.  You  see  how  rich  was  the  symbolism  of  the 
high-priestly  vestments. 

And  how  expressive  as  types  of  the  glory  and  the 
grace  of  our  great  High-Priest.  The  Lord  Jesus  needed 
no  priestly  vestments  ;  for  He  had  the  great  realities,  of 
which  these  were  only  the  symbols.  He  really  possessed 
the  lovely  character  which  was  only  symbolized  in  the 
ephod;  and  no  '' curious  girdle"  was  needed  to  make  it 
evident  that  it  was  a  high  and  holy  work  in  which  He 
was  engaged.  His  strength  to  save,  and  His  love  for 
lost  sinners  were  so  conspicuous  all  through  His  strong 
and  loving  life,  that  onyx  stones  upon  His  shoulders  or 
precious  stones  upon  His  breast  would  have  been  super- 


i88  The  Mosaic  Era. 

fluous.  No  symbol  of  Urim  and  Thummim  was  needed 
for  One  who  could  say :  "  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world ; 
He  that  followeth  Me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but 
shall  have  the  light  of  life."  Nor  were  bells  and  pome- 
granates needful  on  that  garment  hem,  the  very  touch- 
ing of  which,  in  the  spirit  of  trembling  faith,  brought 
health  to  a  cheek  that  for  twelve  years  had  been  pale, 
and  joy  to  a  heart  that,  after  every  remedy  had  been 
tried  in  vain,  had  bidden  farewell  to  hope  (Luke  viii.  43, 
44).  And  why  should  there  be  a  plate  of  gold  with 
"  holiness  to  the  Lord  "  inscribed  upon  it,  on  the  fore- 
head of  One  who  could  fearlessly  issue  the  challenge : 
''Which  of  you  convinceth  Me  of  sin?  " — One  who  was 
really,  as  the  other  was  only  symbolically,  "  holy,  harm- 
less, undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners  "  ?  Verily,  in 
a  far  higher  sense  is  it  true  of  Him  than  it  was  of  Aaron, 
that  "  holiness  unto  the  Lord  "  is  "  akvays  on  His  fore- 
head, that  zue  may  be  accepted  before  the  Lord.'' 

Very  little  is  said  about  the  garments  of  th.^  priests 
(ver.  40-42).  The  attention  is  concentrated  on  the  high- 
priest.  The  beauty  and  the  glory,  the  strength  and  the 
grace,  the  love  and  the  joy,  are  all  His.  To  Him  we 
must  look  for  them  all.  And  yet  the  priests  have  their 
vestments,  too,  "  for  glory  and  for  beauty "  (ver.  40). 
They  were  "  of  fine  linen,  clean  and  white,"  which  sym- 
bolized "the  righteousness  of  the  saints"  (Rev.  xix.  8). 
It  is  for  the  sake  of  our  great  High-Priest  that  we  are 
accepted  first  (v.  38) ;  but  after  we  have  been  accepted, 
and  through  Him  have  become  priests  to  God,  new  gar- 
ments are  put  upon  us ;  and  a  share  in  the  glory  of  the 
high-priestly  work  is  added,  which  also  finds  its  striking 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place,  189 

symbol  in  the  fact  that,  while  the  rest  of  the  priestly 
garments  were  simply  white,  the  girdle,  which  as  we 
have  seen  was  the  symbol  of  service,  was  of  the  various 
colours  that  adorned  the  interior  of  the  Holy  Place. 

It  will  be  very  manifest  from  our  study  of  this  sub- 
ject, that  nothing  could  be  more  presumptuous  than  the 
arrogation  of  the  priestly  office  by  any  privileged  order 
now,  and  nothing  more  out  of  place  than  the  display  of 
priestly  garments.  We  have  already  remarked  that 
there  is  not  a  word  in  the  New  Testament  to  give 
colour  to  the  claim  of  any  other  priesthood  than  that 
which  is  enjoyed  by  all  Christians,  who  have  now 
through  Christ  been  made  priests  unto  God  ;  and  now  it 
will  be  very  apparent  that  the  use  of  priestly  garments  is 
not  only  unjustifiable,  but  must  be  utterly  confusing  and 
misleading  to  those  who  are  encouraged  to  attach  the 
slightest  importance  to  such  things. 

The  priestly  garments  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
prophetic.  They  set  forth  in  symbol  important  truths 
concerning  the  person  and  work  of  the  great  High- 
Priest  who  was  to  come.  But  now  that  He  has  come 
and  fulfilled  all  the  types  and  symbols,  it  is  manifest  that 
to  revive  them  is  only  to  obscure  the  glory  of  Him  in 
whom  they  are  fulfilled.  It  was  all  very  well  for  those 
who  had  not  the  reality  to  prize  the  shadows  ;  but  for 
those  who  have  the  substance  to  grasp  the  shadows  is 
childish  and  foolish  in  the  extreme.  And  it  is  all  the 
less  excusable  that  the  Apostles  were  so  careful  to  warn 
us  against  this  very  childishness.  It  was  for  this  pur- 
pose that  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  written.  They 
were  showing  a  tendency  to  go  back  to  the  old  ritualism 


igo  The  Mosaic  Era. 

of  the  Law  ;  and  it  is  to  warn  them  of  their  danger  that 
the  apostle  addresses  them  in  such  earnest  words  as 
these:  "  O  fooHsh  Galatians, who  hath  bewitched  you  ?" 
"  Having  begun  in  the  Spirit,  are  ye  now  made  perfect 
in  the  flesh  ?  "  "  How  turn  ye  again  to  the  weak  and 
beggarly  elements,  whereunto  ye  desire  again  to  be  in 
bondage  ?  "  One  would  almost  think  the  words  were 
directly  addressed  to  the  ritualists  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  And  the  same  warnings  are  ever  appearing  in 
other  epistles,  as  for  example  in  that  to  the  Colossians : 
*'  As  ye  have  therefore  received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord, 
so  walk  ye  in  Him :  rooted  and  built  up  in  Him,  and 
stablished  in  the  faith,  as  ye  have  been  taught,  abound- 
ing therein  with  thanksgiving.  Beware  lest  any  man 
spoil  you  through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the 
tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world  and 
not  after  Christ.  For  in  Him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of 
the  Godhead  bodily.  And  j/e  arc  complete  in  Him  "  (ii. 
6-10).  ''  Wherefore,  holy  brethren,  partakers  of  the 
heavenly  calling,  consider  the  Apostle  and  High-Priest 
of  our  profession,  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  and  as  He  wore  no 
priestly  robes  Himself,  but  stood  forth  before  God  and 
man  in  the  unspotted  garments  of  His  own  perfect  holi- 
ness, so  let  us,  putting  our  trust  in  Him,  reposing  our 
confidence  on  those  qualities  and  powers  of  His  of 
which  the  priestly  vestments  of  old  were  but  a  feeble 
prophecy,  seek  to  be  invested,  not  with  robes  which  a 
milliner  can  make,  but  with  that  "  fine  linen,  clean  and 
white,  which  is  the  righteousness  of  the  saiiits!'  Thus, 
and  thus  only,  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  can 
Vv^e  find  acceptance  with  God. 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  191 

III.  The  Anointing. 

The  ceremony  of  anointing  follows  the  same  order  as 
the  investiture,  viz.,  Aaron  first  (Lev.  viii.  12),  and  his 
sons  later  on  (ver.  30).  The  meaning  of  the  anointing 
is  unmistakable,  for  throughout  the  Scriptures  oil  is  the 
familiar  and  consistent  symbol  of  Divine  grace ;  and  as 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  fountain  of  Divine  grace,  the 
anointing  is  symbolical  of  His  gracious  work  (see,  as  an 
example  of  this,  Zech.  iv.)  The  composition  of  "the 
holy  anointing  oil"  (Exod.  xxx.  22-33)  was  such  as  to 
indicate  most  expressively  the  variety  and  excellence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit's  working.  While,  then,  the  separation 
and  cleansing  signified  putting  off  the  old,  and  the  in- 
vestiture putting  on  the  new,  the  anointing  meant  the 
consecration  of  the  new  man  by  the  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  grace. 

So  far  the  symbolic  meaning.  But  the  typical  signifi- 
cance is  that  which  arrests  the  attention  here.  At  this 
point  even  the  dullest  mind  am.ongst  the  ancient  He- 
brews would  see  a  prophecy  of  better  things  to  come, 
for  was  not  the  Hope  of  Israel  known  especially  as  the 
Messiah,  the  Anointed  0?ie  F  And  for  the  same  reason 
the  very  slowest  among  modern  Christians  to  believe 
what  Moses  and  the  prophets  taught  of  the  coming 
Christ,  w*ill  not  venture  to  reject  as  fancy  what  the 
anointing  has  to  tell  concerning  the  Anointed  One,  the 
Christ  of  God.  All  the  Evangelists  tell  us  that  after 
His  baptism  (which  signified  His  separation  to  the  work 
He  had  come  to  do,  and  corresponds  to  the  washing, 
ver.  6,  in  the  consecration  of  the  priests),  the  "  Holy 
Ghost  descended  and  abode  upon  Him  "  ;  and  one  of 


192  The  Mosaic  Era. 

them  tells  us  that  in  opening  His  ministry  in  the  place 
where  He  had  been  brought  up,  He  introduced  Himself 
on  this  wise  :  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  Me, 
because  He  hath  anointed  Me  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  poor"  (Luke  iv.  18). 

And  now  we  are  in  a  position  for  understanding  what 
at  first  sight  seems  a  strange  confusion  in  the  narrative 
before  us.  Why  is  it  that  such  a  peculiar  order  is  fol- 
lowed ?  We  should  naturally  have  expected  that  at  the 
proper  stage  in  the  ceremony,  Aaron  and  his  sons  would 
have  been  called  up,  and  anointed,  Aaron  first  of  course, 
and  his  sons  immediately  after.  But  no.  First,  Aaron 
comes  forward  alone,  and  is  anointed  alone.  Then  there 
is  a  long  interval,  during  which  the  sacrifices  were  offered 
on  the  altar,  and  the  blood  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  ap- 
plied (Lev.  viii.  24) ;  and  then,  not  till  then,  are  Aaron's 
sons  called  up,  and  anointed  (ver.  30).  Whether  the  in- 
telligent Jews  of  the  time  saw  any  significance  in  this 
peculiar  arrangement  we  cannot  tell ;  but  to  us  who 
have  the  New  Testament  before  us,  there  appears  a 
striking  appropriateness  in  it  all.  As  we  have  seen  more 
than  once  already,  Aaron  was  the  type  of  the  great 
High-Priest  of  the  new  covenant,  and  Aaron's  sons  of  all 
believers,  who  on  account  of  their  family  relationship  are 
now  made  priests  to  God.  And  when  we  look  at  the 
anointing  respectively  of  the  High-Priest  Himself  and 
His  '' children  "  (see  Heb.  ii.  13),  we  observe  that  it  fol- 
lowed exactly  the  order  of  the  old  ceremony  of  consecra- 
tion as  recorded  in  Leviticus  viii.  First,  Christ  Himself 
was  anointed  alone,  and  the  Spirit  was  given  without 
measure  (John  iii.  34)  to  Him — "poured,"  as  it  is  in  the 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  193 

ceremony  here  (ver.  12),  so  as  to  pervade  the  entire  per- 
son, going  down  even  to  the  skirts  of  the  garments  (Ps. 
cxxx.)  This  took  place,  as  we  have  seen,  at  His  bap- 
tism. Then  a  long  interval  elapsed,  during  which  "  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  not  yet  given"  to  the  disciples  (John 
vii.  39).  In  the  course  of  that  interval  Christ  fulfilled  all 
the  offerings,  as  we  have  seen  in  our  study  of  the  ritual 
of  the  altar,  and  the  blood  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  was 
sprinkled  upon  the  disciples,  evidence  of  which  we  have 
in  the  fact  that  they  were  all  found  waiting  with  one  ac- 
cord in  one  place,  ears  attent,  hands  ready,  feet  willing 
(ver.  24) ;  and  then  the  anointing  came,  the  Holy  Ghost 
fell  upon  them,  not  without  measure  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Master  Himself,  but  copiously,  the  difference  being 
significantly  expressed  in  the  ceremony  of  consecration 
by  the  use  of  the  word  "  sprinkling "  in  the  anointing 
of  Aaron's  sons  (verse  30),  while  "pouring"  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  expression  used  in  reference  to  the  high- 
priest  himself. 

There  is  still  another  quite  significant  difference.  In 
the  case  of  the  high-priest,  the  holy  anointing  oil,  pure 
and  simple,  was  used,  whereas  in  the  case  of  ''  the  sons," 
the  oil  was  used  along  with  the  blood  which  was  upon 
the  altar.  Jesus  Christ  needed  no  atonement  for  Him- 
self. The  Spirit  was  given  to  Him  directly,  and  as  it 
were  in  His  own  right.  But  to  those  who  through  Him 
were  called  to  be  sons  of  God,  the  Spirit  was  given  on 
the  ground  of  the  atonement  which  had  been  made  for 
them  ;  hence  the  use  of  the  blood  from  the  altar  along 
with  the  holy  anointing  oil.  Hence  also  the  association 
of  Aaron  with  the  second  anointing.  The  sons  of  Aaron 
9 


194  The  Mosaic  Era. 

were  anointed  "  zvitli  him!'  which  suggests  the  truth  that 
it  is  only  by  association  with  Christ  that  His  disciples 
can  receive  "  the  unction  from  above."  Without  Him, 
nothing ;  "  with  Him,"  all. 

IV.  The  Sacrifices. 

Here,  again,  to  a  superficial  reader  the  sacrifices  seem 
complicated,  if  not  confused  ;  but  a  very  little  careful 
attention  will  show  the  orderliness  and  clear  significance 
of  the  prolonged  sacrificial  ceremony.  It  extended  over 
eight  days,  the  length  of  time  indicating  the  solemnity 
of  the  occasion.  During  seven  of  these  days  Moses 
acted  as  priest.  It  vrili  be  remembered  that  Moses,  as 
mediator  of  the  old  covenant,  united  all  the  different 
offices  in  his  own  person.  Up  to  this  time  he  has  acted 
not  only  as  the  leader  and  law-giver,  but  also  as  the 
priest,  offering  sacrifices  and  interceding  for  the  people. 
It  is  he  therefore,  as  a  matter  of  course,  who  presides  in 
the  consecration  of  the  priests. 

The  sacrifices  of  the  first  day  are  detailed  in  Leviticus 
vlii.  14-29.  After  what  has  been  said  on  the  ritual  of 
the  altar,  no  explanation  Is  necessary.  The  usual  order 
is  followed,  viz. :  first  the  sin-offering,  then  the  burnt- 
offering,  and  finally  the  peace-offering ;  only,  to  mark 
the  special  occasion,  instead  of  an  ordinary  peace-offer- 
ing, there  is  a  special  consecration-offering,  accompanied 
with  the  significant  ceremony  of  touching  with  its  blood 
the  right  ear  and  hand  and  foot  of  Aaron  and  his  sons 
(ver.  23,  24).  Thus  the  three  great  stages  of  the  first 
day's  ritual  were  atonement,  dedication,  consecration, 
followed  by  the  feasting  which  was  the  usual  sequel  of 
the  peace-offering  (ver.  31,  32).     Then  there  was  a  six 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  195 

days'  waiting  on  the  Lord,  during  which  there  would  ap- 
pear to  have  been  offered  a  daily  sin-offering.  This  we 
gather  from  Exodus  xxix.  (ver.  35-37),  where  there  are 
full  directions  given  for  this  consecration  service  ;  and  it 
will  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  orders  given  in  Exo- 
dus w^th  the  fulfilment  of  them  in  Leviticus,  that  the 
directions  were  followed  to  the  minutest  detail  in  all  the 
different  ceremonies  of  investiture,  of  anointing,  of  con- 
secration. This  repetition  of  the  sin-offering  every  day 
gave  special  emphasis  to  the  fundamental  necessity  of 
atonement  in  order  to  the  opening  of  the  Holy  Place  to 
the  priests  of  God. 

On  the  eighth  day  (chap,  ix.)  Aaron  steps  forward  and 
takes  his  place  at  the  altar,  and  offers  a  series  of  sacri- 
fices, first  for  himself  (ver.  2-14),  and  then  for  the  peo- 
ple (ver.  15-21),  the  series  for  the  people  embracing  all 
the  offerings,  except  the  trespass-offering,  which  from,  its 
very  nature  would  not  have  been  appropriate  at  the  out- 
set. There  was  sin  to  be  atoned  for ;  but  as  yet  there 
was  no  "trespass"  for  which  restitution  should  be  made. 
The  presentation  of  the  entire  series  (sin-offering,  burnt- 
offering,  meat-offering,  peace-offering  with  the  wave-offer- 
ing and  heave-offering)  may  be  compared  with  a  similar 
transaction  at  the  time  of  the  ratification  of  the  covenant 
with  Abraham,  when  he  was  directed  to  offer,  and  did  offer, 
all  the  different  kinds  of  animals  appropriate  for  sacrificial 
purposes  (Gen.  xv.  9,  10).  In  this  way  the  greatness  of 
the  occasion  was  marked,  and  to  the  mind  directed  to 
the  great  Sacrifice  of  the  new  covenant,  the  thought  was 
suggested  that  it  required  them  all  to  unite  their  vary- 
ing witness   to   give  any  conception   of   the  fulness  of 


196  The  Mosaic  Era. 

adaptation  to  all  the  wants  of  sinful  man  which  would 
be  found  in  that  one  Sacrifice. 


And  now  that  the  priesthood  has  been  separated, 
cleansed,  invested  with  robes  of  "  glory  and  beauty,"  an- 
ointed and  fully  consecrated,  the  Holy  Place  is  opened 
for  the  representatives  of  Israel.  ''And  Moses  and 
Aaron  [the  mediator  and  the  priest]  went  into  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation  "  (ver.  23).  Moses,  as  repre- 
sentative of  God,  had  been  in  before.  But  it  was  the 
first  time  that  Aaron  had  entered.  It  was  the  first  time 
the  people  had  been  represented  there.  For,  you  must 
remember,  Aaron  enters  with  the  onyx  stones  upon  his 
shoulders  and  the  gems  upon  his  breast.  On  his  shoulder 
and  on  his  breast  he  carries  with  him  all  the  tribes  of 
Israel  into  the  Holy  Place ;  and  there  he  finds  on  his 
right  the  table  with  the  bread  of  the  presence  upon  it, 
on  his  left  the  golden  candlestick  with  its  seven  lights, 
in  front  of  him  the  golden  altar  with  sweet  incense  ris- 
ing from  it  before  God.  On  his  right  hand,  Life ;  on 
his  left  hand,  Light ;  before  him.  Love  ;  and  only  a  veil, 
a  thin  veil,  between  him  and  the  Throne  of  God. 

Well  may  he  bless  the  people  when  he  comes  out 
(ver.  22)  ;  and  well  may  the  glory  of  the  Lord  appear, 
and  fire  fall  from  heaven  upon  the  altar  (ver.  23) ;  for 
now  those  ''  who  were  afar  off  are  brought  nigh  "  by  the 
blood  of  atonement.  Now,  those  who  but  a  short  time 
before  dwelt  in  darkness  and  terror  and  in  the  very 
shadow  of  death  (Exod.  xix.  16-22),  are  admitted,  through 
their  representative,  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  where 
for  darkness  they  have  light ;    for  death,  life  ;  and  for 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  197 

terror,  everlasting  love;  and  instead  of  "bounds"  to 
warn  them  off  from  a  region,  the  very  touching  of  which 
was  death  (Exod.  xix.  12,  13),  there  is  a  lovely  veil,  to 
hide  from  unprepared  eyes  the  surpassing  glory  of  the 
inner  shrine, — a  veil  which  is  manifestly  only  for  a  time  ; 
and  when  it  is  removed,  the  scattered  rays  of  truth  and 
love,  which  have  been  shining  from  the  table  and  the 
lamp  and  the  golden  altar,  shall  all  be  united  into  one 
dazzling  glory  of  Life  and  Light  and  Love  for  evermore. 

Observe,  as  a  practical  matter,  that  it  was  only  through 
their  representative  priest  that  the  Holy  Place  was  open 
to  the  people.  So  is  it  still.  It  is  only  through  Christ 
that  we  can  draw  near  to  God,  only  through  Him  that 
that  we  can  feast  on  the  bread  of  life,  walk  in  the  light 
of  life,  and  join  in  those  devotions  which  were  symbol- 
ized in  the  sweet  incense  that  ascended  from  the  golden 
altar.  But  through  Him  we  may  come  with  all  holy 
boldness  :  ''  having  a  high-priest  over  the  house  of  God, 
let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart,  in  full  assurance  of 
faith,  having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  con- 
science, and  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water"  (Heb. 
X.  21,  22). 

And  yet  for  this  reason  we  must  be  exceedingly  care- 
ful not  to  "  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have  received  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  "  (ver.  26),  for,  if  we  do,  '*  there 
remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins,  but  a  certain  fearful 
looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation."  This  is 
strikingly  and  fearfully  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Nadab 
and  Abihu,  recorded  in  chapter  x.  Theirs  was  a  most 
aggravated  sin.  They  were  the  eldest  sons  of  Aaron. 
They  had  enjoyed  special  advantages.      They  had  been 


198  The  Mosaic  Era. 

privileged  to  go  up  with  the  seventy  elders  of  Israel  tc 
the  mount  of  God,  and  see  something  of  His  glory 
(Exod.  xxiv.)  And  yet  on  the  very  first  day,  as  it  would 
seem,  of  their  sacred  service,  they  disregard  the  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord,  and  offer  "  strange  fire  "  upon 
the  altar.  Possibly  it  was  through  strong  drink  that  they 
were  led  so  flagrantly  to  transgress,  which  will  account 
for  the  absolute  prohibition  of  it  to  the  priesthood  in 
this  connection  (ver.  8-1 1);  but  if  so,  this  was  not  ac- 
cepted as  any  excuse.  They  were  destroyed  by  "  fire 
from  the  Lord  "  (ver.  2).  We  are  not  to  suppose,  of 
course,  that  they  were  necessarily  excluded  from  mercy 
in  the  world  to  come ;  but  just  as  in  the  case  of  Ananias 
and  Sapphira  in  the  early  days  of  the  New  Testament 
Church,  so  in  the  beginning  of  the  Old  Testament  wor- 
ship, it  was  necessary  to  make  an  example  of  those  who 
would  lightly  transgress  the  commandments  of  the  Lord, 
so  that  all  the  world  might  learn  the  lesson,  "  Holiness 
becometh  Thine  house,  O  Lord,  for  ever."  A  similar 
impression  is  made  by  the  scrupulous  care  that  was 
taken  to  make  sure  that  Eleazar  and  Ithamar,  the  other 
two  sons  of  Aaron,  had  fulfilled  their  duty  in  regard  to 
the  sin-offering  (ver.  12-20). 

But  while  we  seek  to  "  have  grace  whereby  we  may 
serve  God  acceptably,  with  reverence  and  godly  fear," 
remembering  that  ^'  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire"  to  the 
presumptuous  sinner,  let  us  not  be  at  all  afraid  to  avail 
ourselves  of  our  privileges  as  priests  to  God,  for  our 
High-Priest  is  not  one  "that  cannot  be  touched  with  a 
feeling  of  our  infirmities "  ;  and  if  only  we  come  with 
true  hearts,  we  are  sure  of  a  welcome  in  the  holy  place 


Ritual  of  the  Holy  Place.  199 

of  communion  with  God.  Let  us,  like  the  priests  of  old, 
be  found  day  by  day  in  our  Holy  Place,  feasting  on  the 
bread  of  life,  walking  in  the  light  of  God,  and  offering 
up  continually  the  sweet  incense  of  a  holy  devotion; 
and,  like  the  priests  too,  let  us  week  by  week  renew 
"  the  bread  of  the  presence,"  availing  ourselves  of  the 
precious  opportunities  of  replenishing  the  store  which 
the  first  day  of  the  week  affords  (Lev.  xxiv.  8) ;  and 
though  there  still  is  a  veil  between  us  and  "  the  Holiest 
of  all,"  "  whither  our  Forerunner  has  for  us  entered," 
and  whither  so  many  dear  ones  have  already  gone,  it  is 
only  a  veil ;  no  black  funeral  pall,  but  a  thin  veil,  through 
which  there  seem  to  shine  the  beautiful  colours  of 
heaven  and  the  forms  of  angels  (Exod.  xxvi.  31) ;  and 
presently  it  shall  be  drawn  aside,  and  He  shall  appear, 
and  we  also  shall  "  appear  with  Him  in  glory"  (Col.  iii.  4), 
and  see — ■ 

"  Those  angel  faces  smile. 
Which  we  have  loved  long  since,  and  lost  awhile." 


XIII. 
RITUAL   OF   THE    MOST    HOLY   PLACE. 

LEVITICUS  XI.-XXII. 

THE  Most  Holy  Place  was  entered  only  once  a 
year,  viz.,  on  the  great  Day  of  Atonement ;  and 
therefore  its  ritual  resolves  itself  into  the  ritual  of  that 
day,  which  is  given  in  the  sixteenth  chapter ;  but  the 
subjects  taken  up  in  the  intervening  chapters  are  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  solemnities  of 
that  occasion  ;  while  those  which  come  after,  up  to  the 
twenty-second,  are  such  as  naturally  and  appropriately 
follow ;  and  therefore  we  may  with  advantage  make  the 
entire  section  the  subject  of  a  single  lecture,  the  interest 
of  which  will  centre  in  the  entrance  of  the  high-priest 
into  the  Most  Holy  Place. 

Though  one  day  only  of  the  entire  year  was  devoted 
to  the  Holy  of  Holies,  that  one  was  the  day  of  days  of 
all  the  year.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  idea  of 
atonement  is  the  foundation-thought  in  all  the  sacrifices 
and  in  all  the  services,  both  in  the  ritual  of  the  Altar 
and  of  the  Holy  Place.  But  while  in  all  these  services 
it  has  a  fundamental  place,  yet  it  is  so  continually  asso- 
ciated with  other  thoughts  as  to  render  it  quite  possible 

(2CX)) 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.       201 

that  some  of  the  people  might  fail  to  see  its  transcend- 
ent importance ;  and  accordingly  there  was  one  day  of 
the  year,  and  that  the  most  sacred  of  all,  when  the  great 
fact  of  atonement  was  presented  alone  and  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  before  the  minds  of  the  people ;  and 
there  was  one  department  of  the  ritual,  and  that  the 
most  sacred  of  all,  the  ritual  of  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
which  was  so  arranged  that  the  necessity  and  value  of 
the  atonement  which  God  has  provided  for  human  sin 
should  stand  out  in  solitary  grandeur,  like  the  Matter- 
horn  among  Swiss  mountains,  before  the  ^  eyes  of  Israel 
in  the  olden  time,  and  of  all  God's  Israel  to  the  end  of 
the  world. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  it  was  specially  appropriate 
that  the  minds  of  the  people  should  be  prepared  for  the 
solemn  services  of  that  most  sacred  day  by  the  very 
strongest  impressions  of  the  exceeding  evil  of  sin.  To 
produce  such  impressions  seems  to  be  the  main  object 
of  these  intervening  chapters  (xi.-xv.)  We  shall  find, 
when  we  look  into  them,  that  attention  is  first  directed 
to  the  evil  abounding  around  \xs,  and  then  to  the  horrible 
nature  of  the  sin  which  finds  a  place  zvithin  us. 

In  the  eleventh  chapter  directions  are  given  for  the 
distinction  of  animals  into  clean  and  unclean  :  the  former 
being  allowed  for  food,  the  latter  absolutely  forbidden, 
and  not  only  so,  but  treated  as  "  an  abomination." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  was  a  sanitary  element 
in  this  distinction  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  this  was  not 
the  main  idea ;  for  it  is  not  "  wholesome  and  unwhole- 
some," but  ''clean  and  uncle  an  T  It  was  not  simply  and 
solely  a  natural  distinction,  but  also  and  mainly  ceremo- 

9* 


202  The  Mosaic  Era. 

nial,  one  object  of  which  undoubtedly  was  to  help  to 
keep  Israel  rigidly  separate  from  other  nations,  as  is 
plainly  set  forth  in  the  twentieth  chapter :  ''  Ye  shall 
therefore  put  difference  between  clean  beasts  and  un- 
clean ....  for  I  the  Lord  am  holy,  and  have  severed 
you  from  other  people,  that  ye  should  be  Mine  "  (ver. 
25,  26).  One  of  the  great  temptations  which  Israel  had 
to  encounter,  was  the  tendency  to  get  into  too  close  re- 
lations with  idolatrous  nations ;  and  we  can  readily  see 
how  these  regulations  as  to  diet  put  a  barrier  in  the  way. 
We  know  how  similar  restrictions  operate  in  India  to 
prevent  the  amalgamation  of  different  castes ;  and  just 
as  it  operates  against  the  Gospel  there,  so  did  it  in  "  the 
times  of  Israel "  against  the  progress  of  idolatry.  The 
connection  between  this  distinction  and  the  old  exclu- 
siveness  of  the  Mosaic  times  is  very  clearly  seen  in  the 
vision  of  Peter,  recorded  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  where,  by  the  command  to  disregard  the  old 
Mosaic  distinctions  as  to  clean  and  unclean  beasts,  he 
was  given  to  understand  that  the  old  system  of  exclu- 
isiveness  rnust  now  pass  away,  or  to  put  it  in  his  own 
words :  ''  Ye  know  how  that  it  is  an  unlawful  thing  for 
a  man  that  is  a  Jew  to  keep  company  or  to  come  unto 
one  of  another  nation ;  but  God  hath  showed  me  that  I 
should  not  call  any  man  common  or  unclean  "  (Acts 
X.  28). 

But  we  must  go  deeper  than  this  in  order  fully  to 
!innderstand  the  reason  of  the  distinction.  It  is  true 
that  one  object  in  view  was  to  keep  the  Jews  separate 
;from  other  nations ;  but  if  this  had  been  all,  a  quite 
arbitrary   distinction   would   have   been  sufficient,  and 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.       203 

would  have  even  served  the  purpose  more  effectually 
than  one  that  was  founded,  as  this  was,  on  nature. 

There  was  in  fact  here,  as  everywhere  else  in  the 
Mosaic  ritual,  a  symbolical  significance  in  the  distinc- 
tion. This  is  very  apparent  from  the  closing  verses  of 
the  chapter  before  us,  as  well  as  many  other  scriptures 
to  the  same  effect :  "  I  am  the  Lord  your  God :  ye  shall 
therefore  sanctify  yourselves,  and  ye  shall  be  holy ;  for 
I  am  holy ;  neither  shall  ye  defile  yourselves  with  any 
manner  of  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 
For  I  am  the  Lord  that  bringeth  you  up  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  to  be  your  God  :  ye  shall  therefore  be  Jioly^  for 
I  am  holy."  It  is  in  fact  still  another  lesson  on  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  HOLINESS. 

We  have  seen  how  an  Israelite  could  not  at  any  mo- 
ment of  the  day  or  night  look  towards  the  Tabernacle 
without  being  reminded  that  '^  without  holiness  no  man 
can  see  the  Lord."  But  that  was  not  enough.  The  same 
great  lesson  must  be  written  on  the  face  of  nature,  so 
that  he  could  not  stir  abroad  in  any  direction  without 
being  reminded  of  it.  The  earth,  the  sea,  the  air,  were 
all  full  of  symbols  which  had  been  pressed  into  this 
great  service.  Already  by  the  Mosaic  teaching  concern- 
ing the  creation  of  all  things*by  God,  Who  looking  upon 
the  work  of  His  hands  pronounced  all  very  good,  the 
devout  Israelite  had  learned  to  see  in  all  nature  around 
him  the  glory  and  the  goodness  of  God.  But  now  that 
this  distinction  was  made,  a  secondary  lesson  was  added 
to  the  first,  and  he  was  taught  in  symbol  to  realize  that 
though  all  the  works  of  God  were  good,  yet  such  was 
the  deceitfulness  of  the  human  heart,  that  on  all  hands 


204  The  Mosaic  Era. 

there  was  danger  of  being  tempted  to  evil,  and  so  be- 
coming contaminated  and  defiled  ;  whence  the  need  of 
constant  watchfulness  to  keep  themselves  "  unspotted 
from  the  world,"  and  inasmuch  as  this  in  the  absolute 
sense  was  clearly  impossible,  the  need  of  such  an  atone 
ment  as  was  provided  in  the  service  of  the  great  Atone- 
ment Day.  In  all  this  we  are  dealing  simply  with  the 
general  symbolic  meaning  of  the  distinction  ;  but  we 
believe  that  there  are  also  specific  lessons  to  be  learned 
in  such  details  as  these,  that  amongst  the  unclean  are 
classed  all  those  animals  whose  habits  are  filthy,  those 
that  creep  upon  the  earth,  those  that  having  wings  are 
yet  in  the  habit  of  walking  on  the  earth,  and  even  noble 
birds  like  the  eagle,  which,  though  emphatically  a  bird 
of  freedom  and  of  soaring  flight,  nevertheless  is  found, 
like  too  many  of  its  kind  among  men,  feeding  upon 
carrion  (Matt.  xxiv.  28). 

From  the  thought  of  evil  arottnd  we  are  conducted  in 
the  chapters  which  follow  (xii.-xv.)  to  sin  within.  First, 
as  a  hereditary  taint,  which  seems  to  be  the  leading 
thought  of  the  ritual  prescribed  in  the  twelfth  chapter. 
''  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,"  writes  the  Psalmist,  "  and 
in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me."  This  thought, 
however,  is  comparatively  lightly  touched,  and  with  much 
greater  emphasis  the  attention  is  directed  to  the  hor- 
rible nature  of  sin  as  a  loathsome  and  dreadful  disease. 
Those  who  are  at  all  familiar  with  Bible  thought  do  not 
need  to  be  reminded  that  all  diseases  are  represented  as 
symptoms  and  symbols  of  the  great  disease  of  the  soul. 
One  single  example,  however,  may  be  taken,  to  fix  it  in 
the  mind.     When  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy  (Mark  ii.)  is 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.       205 

brought  to  the  Saviour  to  be  healed,  how  does  He  deal 
with  the  case  ?  Does  He  address  Himself  at  once  to 
the  cure  of  the  palsy  ?  No  ;  He  passes  it  by  as  a  mere 
symptom,  and  penetrates  to  the  central  disease  of  the 
soul,  pronouncing  these  words  of  sovereign  healing, 
"  Son,  thy  sms  be  forgiven  thee."  And  when  the  by- 
standers murmured,  He  gave  this  most  significant  reply: 
"Whether  is  it  easier  to  say  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy. 
Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee  ;  or  to  say.  Arise,  and  take 
up  thy  bed  and  walk  ?  But  that  ye  may  know  that 
the  Son  of  Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins  (He 
saith  to  the  sick  of  the  palsy),  I  say  unto  thee.  Arise. 
....  And  immediately  he  arose."  Does  not  this  throw 
light  on  all  our  Saviour's  works  of  healing?  He  came 
as  "  the  great  Physician,"  and  He  removed  the  outward 
symptoms  not  only  for  the  sake  of  relieving  these  dis- 
tressed ones,  but  also  and  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  making 
it  manifest  to  all,  that  He  was  able  to  deal  effectually 
with  the  central  disease  of  sin. 

But,  while  all  diseases  were  regarded  as  symptoms 
and  symbols  of  sin,  there  was  one  disease  above  all  others 
that  was  so  regarded  and  treated.  This  was  the  dreadful 
disease  of  leprosy.  It  would  be  out  of  place  to  attempt 
to  enter  into  the  medical  questions  which  arise  in  con- 
nection with  this  disease.  But  we  must  by  all  means 
say  a  word  in  correction  of  the  still  popular  fallacy,  that 
the  stringent  regulations  of  exclusion  and  non-inter- 
course were  made  to  avoid  the  danger  of  contagion. 
There  seems  to  be  a  general  agreement  now,  that  the 
leprosy  of  Palestine  was  not,  could  not  have  been  char- 
acteristically  contagious ;    and    that    therefore,    though 


2o6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

there  may  have  been  a  sanitary  element  in  the  ordi- 
nances which  appHed  to  it,  just  as  there  was  in  the  dis- 
tinction of  animals  into  clean  and  unclean,  yet  here  as 
well  as  there,  they  were  properly  ceremonial  observances, 
the  point  and  significance  of  which  lay  in  the  fact  that 
to  the  Jewish  mind  the  leprosy  was  an  outward  image, 
we  might  say  tJie  outward  image,  of  sin.  When  we  bear 
this  in  mind,  we  can  discern  many  important  lessons 
even  in  the  details  of  the  ritual  for  the  leprosy  (xiii. 
1-46)  ;  and  we  can  see  a  reason,  besides  the  physical 
analogy  which  has  been  proved  by  recent  microscopic 
science  actually  to  exist,  for  treating  the  "  dry  rot  "  in 
garments  (ver.  47-49),  and  in  houses  (xiv.  33-57),  under 
the  same  head  as  leprosy  on  the  person.  Again  and 
again  in  this  book  of  Leviticus  is  the  solemn  lesson 
taught  us,  that  sin  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  pollute  all 
it  touches,  so  that  our  very  surroundings  become  tainted 
by  the  impurity  of  our  hearts  and  the  iniquity  of  our 
lives  (see  Jude,  ver.  23). 

The  way  of  cleansing  the  leper  is  interesting  and  sig- 
nificant (chap,  xiv.)  The  main  thoughts  in  the  ritual 
are,  first,  atonement  and  purification  under  the  familiar 
symbols  of  blood  and  water ;  and  then  death  and  resur- 
rection under  the  striking  emblems  of  the  two  birds,  one 
killed,  and  the  other  allowed  to  fly  away  into  its  native 
heaven.  It  requires  no  stretch  of  fancy  to  see  in  this, 
what  the  Apostle  John  evidently  saw  when  he  wrote  : 
'■'  This  is  He  that  came  by  water  and  blood,  even  Jesus 
Christ ;  not  by  water  only,  but  by  water  and  blood." 
His  word  was  like  the  pure  "running  water"  which  had 
so  prominent  a  place  in  the  cleansing  of  the  leper  (see 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.       207 

Eph.  V.  26,  27) ;  but  even  that  word  of  His,  so  full  of 
instruction  and  consolation,  was  not  enough  ;  He  must 
also  give  His  life  for  us,  fulfilling  thus  the  type  of  the 
"  bird  alive  and  clean,"  that  was  "  killed  in  an  earthen 
vessel  over  the  running  water,"  so  that  the  blood  and 
the  water  were  mingled  together  (see  John  xix.  34)  ;  a 
striking  symbol  of  the  fact  that  it  is  only  when  the 
power  of  the  Cross  is  felt  in  the  heart,  that  the  words  of 
the  Saviour  exert  their  purifying  influence  upon  the  life. 
"  If  a  man  love  Me  "  (says  Christ;  and  it  is  the  sacrifice, 
of  the  Cross  that  moves  our  love),  "  he  will  keep  My 
words."  And  then,  in  the  flight  of  the  other  bird 
with  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  upon  its  wings  (ver.  6), 
have  we  not  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  ascension  of  our 
Lord,  carrying  with  Him  to  the  heaven  whither  He  has 
gone,  the  blood  of  His  Sacrifice  (Heb.  ix.  12,  24),  "there 
to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  "  ? 

After  all  this,  which  the  priest  does  for  the  leper,  there 
are  certain  things  which  the  leper  himself  must  do,  the 
general  significance  of  which  in  the  light  of  what  has 
been  said  is  so  apparent  that  we  need  not  enter  into  par- 
ticulars (ver.  8-10).  And  for  the  same  reason  we  may 
pass  over  the  sacrifices  and  the  anointing,  which  were 
prescribed  with  a  view  to  his  restoration  to  the  full  priv- 
ileges of  the  sanctuary,  the  leading  ideas  being  the  same 
as  those  which  have  been  already  before  our  minds  in 
the  ritual  of  the  altar  and  in  the  anointing  of  the  priests 
(ver.  11-32). 

In  the  fifteenth  chapter  the  defilement  of  sin  is  the 
leading  thought.  Here  again  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
there  was  a  sanitary  element  in  the  regulations.    "  Clean- 


2o8  The  Mosaic  Era. 

liness  is  next  to  Godliness  "  is  not,  as  some  suppose,  a 
Bible  sentence,  but  it  is  beyond  all  question  a  Bible  sen- 
timent. The  first  all-embracing  law  of  the  Mosaic  econ- 
omy is,  Be  holy.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  Be  clean  : 
clean  in  person,  clean  in  garments,  clean  in  house,  clean 
in  camp,  clean  everywhere.  Who  can  tell  how  much  the 
world  owes  to  these  "  health  laws  of  Moses  "  ?  ''  It  is 
certainly  a  curious  thing,"  writes  one  who  is  an  authority 
on  the  subject,  '^  worthy  the  notice  of  every  student  of 
the  progress  of  the  human  race,  whether  his  standpoint 
be  religious  or  purely  scientific,  that  the  moving  camp  in 
the  wilderness  was  governed  by  as  strict  and  perfect  a 
sanitary  code  as  any  sanitary  commission  could  now  de- 
vise." But  while  in  the  Mosaic  institutes  we  have  evi- 
dence of  an  enlightened  regard  to  the  necessity  of  clean- 
liness in  order  to  the  health  of  the  people,  beyond  even 
that  which  we,  after  so  many  centuries  of  progress,  have 
yet  reached,  the  purity  of  the  soul  was  ever  kept  before 
the  mind  as  the  main  thing  to  be  desired  and  secured. 
"  Our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,"  was  al- 
ways the  first  thing;  ''our  bodies  washed  with  pure 
water,"  was  the  second  (Heb.  x.  22);  and  throughout  the 
book  of  the  Law  these  two  have  been  by  God  so  joined 
together,  that  no  candid  mind  can  put  them  asunder. 

While  this  chapter  is  before  us  it  may  be  well  to  refer 
to  the  objections  of  those  who  cavil  at  certain  portions 
of  Scripture  because  they  are  unfit  to  be  read  aloud  in 
the  family.  It  is  freely  admitted  that  there  are  portions 
of  Scripture  not  at  all  adapted  for  this  use.  But  that 
does  not  prove  that  their  presence  in  the  canon  is  un- 
called for.     That  plain  speaking  and  plain  dealing,  such 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.         209 

as  we  find  in  the  book  of  Leviticus,  was  necessary,  is 
amply  proved  by  the  history  of  the  ancient  world,  and 
of  the  modern  world  too.  The  Bible  is  the  only  book 
that  has  exercised  any  considerable  effect  in  keeping 
men  and  women  pure.  There  are  many  books,  where 
everything  offensive  to  the  ear  is  studiously  avoided, 
which  nevertheless  are  very  poison  to  the  soul.  In  the 
Bible,  on  the  other  hand,  while  there  is  not  a  little  that 
is  offensive  to  the  ear,  there  is  absolutely  nothing  that  is 
poisonous  to  the  spirit,  unless  the  spirit  has  been  poi- 
soned already ;  for  we  must  remember  that  while  "to  the 
pure  all  things  are  pure,"  "  unto  them  that  are  defiled 
and  unbelieving  is  nothing  pure ;  but  even  their  mind 
and  conscience  is  defiled."  There  is  absolutely  nothing 
in  the  entire  Bible  that  will  not  exert  a  holy  and  purify- 
ing influence  on  those  who  read  it  in  the  right  spirit. 
And  as  a  historical  fact,  such  has  been  the  result  among 
those  who  have  made  these  Scriptures  their  companion 
and  counsellor.  The  Jews  alone  among  the  nations  of 
antiquity  had  even  the  conception  of  purity  as  we  under- 
stand it  now.  Consider  for  a  moment,  whence  we  de- 
rive those  exalted  notions  of  purity,  which  are  widely 
prevalent  in  modern  society,  especially  among  Christian 
people.  Did  we  get  them  from  the  Greeks  ?  Even  the 
purest  and  the  best  of  Greek  philosophers,  those  who  in 
other  respects  have  come  nearest  to  Bible  ethics,  are 
wofully  behind  in  regard  to  personal  purity  of  heart  and 
life,  some  of  them  tolerating  and  others  approving  that 
which  enlightened  Christian  sentiment  utterly  condemns. 
Let  any  one  fairly  investigate  the  genesis  and  "evolu- 
tion "  of  our  modern  ideas  of  chastity  and  purity,  and 


2IO  The  Mosaic  Era. 

he  will  find  that  they  are  traceable  chiefly  to  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures  as  their  source.  And  so  the  remarkable  fact 
will  present  itself  that  to  these  very  Scriptures,  and 
largely  to  those  parts  of  them  where  the  corrupt  imagi- 
nation of  certain  cavillers  finds  an  indecency  which  is 
all  its  own,  w^e  owe  that  very  sentiment  of  delicacy  which 
makes  it  impossible  for  us  to  read  them  aloud  in  public 
or  in  the  family. 

Now  that  the  need  of  a  great  atonement,  to  purine  the 
sins  even  of  the  chosen  and  separated  people,  has  been 
made  evident  by  the  fall  of  Nadab  and  Abihu  (Lev.  x.), 
and  further  impressed  by  a  striking  series  of  regulations, 
pointing  first  to  the  danger  of  contamination  from  with- 
out (xi.),  and  then  to  the  horrible  nature  of  sin  within, 
as  a  hereditary  taint  (xii.),  as  a  loathsome  disease  (xiii., 
xiv.),  and  as  a  source  of  frequent  defilement  (xv.),  we 
are  prepared  for  appreciating  the  solemnities  prescribed 
in  chapter  xvi.  as  the  ritual  to  be  observed  on 

The  Great  Atonement  Day. 

On  this  day  alone,  of  all  the  days  of  the  year,  being 
the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  the  inner  veil  was 
drawn  aside,  and  the  Holy  of  Holies  opened  for  the  en- 
trance of  the  high-priest.  Our  first  thought  would  prob- 
ably be,  that  of  all  the  days  of  the  year  this  would  be 
the  most  joyful ;  for  was  not  the  Holy  of  Holies  a  sym- 
bol of  heaven,  and  what  could  be  more  joyful  than  the 
thought,  "  heaven  is  opened  to-day  "  ?  On  the  contrary, 
it  was  appointed  to  be  a  day  of  special  fasting  and  humil- 
iation.     Why?      Because,  as  may  very  well  be  inferred 


Ritual  of  the  Must  Holy  Place.         211 

from  the  tenor  of  the  chapters  preceding,  the  leading 
thought  presented  by  the  ritual  for  the  day  was  not  the 
opening  of  heaven  with  all  its  glories,  but  rather  the 
solemn  warning  that  ''  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into 
it  anything  that  defileth."  It  is  the  old,  old  lesson 
pressed  home  once  again,  and  more  solemnly  than  ever, 
that  "  without  holiness  no  man  can  see  the  Lord."  It 
will  be  time  enough  by-and-by  to  unfold  the  glories  of 
the  future,  to  tell  of  the  golden  city  with  its  gates  of 
pearl,  its  blessed  company  and  joy  unspeakable;  but 
first  there  must  be  borne  deep  into  the  soul  this  abiding 
conviction,  that  before  we  are  prepared  even  to  see  the 
kingdom  (John  iii.  3),  we  must  be  saved  from  sin. 
"  Thou  shalt  call  His  name  Jesus,"  not  because  He  shall 
prepare  a  beautiful  place  for  His  people,  not  because  He 
shall  crown  them  with  glory  and  joy,  but  because  "  He 
shall  save  His  people /r^?;;/  their  sins T  The  method  of 
the  Bible  is  not  to  put  rewards  in  the  foreground.  It  is 
not  happiness  first,  but  holiness.  And  it  is  only  after 
holiness  to  the  Lord  has  taken  strong  and  abiding  posses- 
sion of  the  soul,  that  happiness  from  the  Lord  comes 
down  on  joyous  wing  from  out  the  open  heaven. 

Marvel  not,  then,  that  on  the  day  on  which  the 
"  Holiest  of  all "  was  opened,  the  people  were  called  to 
fasting  and  humiliation  on  account  of  their  sin,  nor 
wonder  that,  for  the  purpose  of  entering  within  the  veil, 
the  high-priest  was  directed  to  put  on,  not  his  robes  ''  of 
gloiy  and  beauty,"  but  plain  linen  garments,  all  of  white 
(even  the  girdle,  usually  of  the  colours  of  the  sanctuary 
when  all  the  rest  were  colourless,  being  white  on  this 
occasion),  so  that  the  thought  of  holiness  should  stand 


212  The  Mosaic  Era. 

before  the  mind's  eye  of  the  people  quite  alone.  This 
seems  to  be  the  intent  of  the  nota  bene  of  the  fourth 
verse  :  ''  These  are  holy  garments."  Still  further,  the 
festal  offerings  were  excluded :  no  bread-offering,  no  joy- 
offering  to-day;  only  the  sin-offering  and  the  burnt- 
offering,  the  great  essentials.  And  even  the  burnt-offer- 
ing sinks  into  an  entirely  secondary  position,  that  the 
attention  may  be  concentrated  from  beginning  to  end 
on  the  sin-offering,  and  on  the  great  fact  of  atonement, 
which  gave  significance  to  the  ritual  and  name  to  the 
day. 

The  high-priest  must  offer  an  atonement  first  for  his 
own  sins,  and  then  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  We  shall 
confine  our  attention  to  the  latter,  as  the  prominent  and 
characteristic  feature  of  the  day.  The  sin-offering  for 
the  people  consisted  of  two  goats  ;  the  number  being 
two  from  a  necessity  similar  to  that  which  required  two 
birds  for  the  ceremony  of  cleansing  the  leper.  Two  birds 
were  needed  on  that  occasion,  in  order  that  both  death 
and  resurrection  might  be  in  the  symbol,  which  would 
have  been  otherwise  impossible  without  a  miracle ;  and 
here  two  goats  are  necessary,  in  order  that  both  the 
means  of  atonement  and  the  result  of  atonement  may 
be  presented  in  the  same  rite. 

The  one  goat,  determined  by  lot  to  be  ''  for  the 
Lord,"  symbolized,  as  we  shall  see,  the  means;  the 
other,  determined  by  lot   to  be   ''  for  the   scapegoat,"  " 


*  We  do  not  enter  on  the  discussion  of  the  difficult  word  Azazel, 
because  we  believe  that,  after  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  sub- 
ject, the  meaning  conveyed  to  the  mind  by  our  translation  is  more 
nearly  accurate  than  by  any  that  could  be  substituted. 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.         213 

the  effect  of  atonement.  The  former  was  sacrificed  at 
the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  and  its  blood  carried  within 
the  veil  with  the  same  attendant  ceremonies  as  were  pre- 
scribed for  the  previous  entrance,  when  the  high-priest 
presented  the  blood  of  the  bullock  as  a  sin-offering  for 
himself.  The  manner  of  his  entrance  was  in  keeping 
with  all  that  had  gone  before.  It  was  with  no  eager 
curiosity  that  the  high-priest  drew  aside  the  veil,  but  in 
deep  reverence  and  humility,  with  downcast  eyes  directed 
to  the  Mercy-Seat  and  to  the  floor,  where  the  sacred 
blood  was  to  be  sprinkled  seven  times,  while  a  cloud  of 
incense  rose  before  him  to  veil  the  dazzling  lustre  of  the 
Shekinah  glory.  The  sprinkling  of  the  Mercy-Seat  and 
of  the  floor  in  front  of  it,  was  followed  by  a  similar  use 
of  the  blood  in  the  Holy  Place,  and  at  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering,  "  to  hallow  "  the  scene  of  worship  and  of  sac- 
rifice "  from  the  uncleanness  of  the  children  of  Israel " 
(ver.  19),  services  in  which  we  recognize  the  counterpart 
of  what  had  been  so  impressively  taught  in  the  preced- 
ing chapters  as  to  the  contaminating  effect  of  sin  on  all 
it  touches. 

The  idea  is,  that  even  after  the  most  scrupulous  care 
had  been  taken  all  through  the  year,  not  only  in  the 
avoiding  of  sin,  but  also  in  the  atoning  for  it  by  follow- 
ing the  prescribed  ritual  of  the  altar  and  of  the  Holy 
Place,  so  much  of  evil  still  remained,  adhering  as  it  were 
to  the  most  sacred  services  of  the  sanctuary,  and  accu- 
mulating from  day  to  day,  that  every  year  there  needed 
to  be  this  great  atonement,  not  only  for  the  sins  of  the 
people,  but  for  "  reconciling  the  holy  place  and  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation,  and  the  altar  "  (ver.  20).     So 


214  The  Mosaic  Era. 

much  for  the  goat  which  was  determined  by  lot  to  be 
''  for  the  Lord." 

The  other  goat  was  to  be  dealt  with  in  an  entirely 
different  way :  "  And  Aaron  shall  lay  both  his  hands 
upon  the  head  of  the  live  goat,  and  confess  over  him  all 
the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  all  their 
transgressions  in  all  their  sins,  putting  them  upon  the 
head  of  the  goat,  and  shall  send  him  away  by  the  hand 
of  a  fit  man  into  the  wilderness ;  and  the  goat  shall  bear 
upon  him  all  their  iniquities  unto  a  land  not  inhabited  " 
(ver.  21,22).  We  have  seen  that  the  hallowing  of  the 
Tabernacle  from  all  the  uncleanness  of  the  children  of 
Israel  was  the  aspect  of  atonement  presented  in  the  for- 
mer part  of  the  ceremonial.  Now  it  is  the  hallowing  of 
the  people  themselves  that  is  prominent.  And  inasmuch 
as  the  means  of  atonement  had  been  very  fully  exhibited 
in  the  early  part  by  the  killing  of  the  animal  and  the 
sprinkling  of  its  blood,  the  m.ind  is  now  directed  specially 
to  the  result,  viz.,  the  removal  of  the  iniquities  of  the 
penitent  and  believing  people  far  away  out  of  sight  and 
memory,  ''  to  a  land  not  inhabited,"  where  no  eye  could 
ever  see  them,  or  finger  point  at  them  in  scorn  or  re- 
proach. The  effect  of  this  impressive  ceremony  will  be 
traced  in  such  utterances  as  these  in  the  poet  prophets 
of  later  times :  "  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so 
far  hath  He  removed  our  transgressions  from  us " ; 
"  The  iniquity  of  Israel  shall  be  sought  for,  and  there 
shall  be  none ;  and  the  sins  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  not 
be  found "  ;  "  Thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea." 

And  now  that  the  great  atonement  has  been  made, 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.         215 

the  high-priest  puts  off  the  linen  garments  and  puts  on 
his  gorgeous  robes,  the  onyx  stones  upon  his  shoulders, 
the  precious  stones  upon  his  breast  again,  and  offers  the 
burnt-offering  for  himself  and  for  the  people.  We  have 
seen  already  that  the  day  was  to  be  above  all  a  day  of 
atonement,  so  that  the  sin-offering  takes  the  place  of  all 
the  others,  and  stands  out  as  it  were  alone ;  but  even 
then  the  opportunity  cannot  be  allowed  to  pass  of  point- 
ing out  that  atonement  is  in  order  to  dedication  and 
acceptance,  the  dedication  of  the  people  to  God  and  the 
acceptance  of  the  people  by  God  ;  and  this  is  kept  before 
the  mind  by  the  presentation  of  the  burnt-offering  by 
the  priest  in  his  priestly  attire  as  the  representative  of 
the  now  "  reconciled  "  people. 

So  far  we  have  had  before  us  simply  the  symbolical 
meaning  of  these  impressive  rites.  But  as  we  have 
looked  at  their  symbolism,  we  cannot  have  failed  to  see 
how  instructively  typical  they  are  of  the  work  of  Him 
who  came  to  fulfil  the  ritual  of  the  great  Atonement 
Day.  He  came,  not  in  His  robes  of  glory  and  beauty, 
but  in  the  plain  linen  garments  of  humanity,  assumed 
in  order  that  He  might  make  atonement  for  us  in  the 
flesh.  But  though  the  garments  of  His  humanity  were 
plain,  they  were  white,  for  "  He  did  no  sin,  neither  was 
guile  found  in  His  mouth."  And  thus  attired.  He  ad- 
vances to  the  altar;  and  the  blood  of  the  victim  flows. 
The  awful  sacrifice  proceeds  ;  until  at  last,  when  all  is 
over,  "  Behold !  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom."  "  It  is  finished."  Heaven 
is  opened  now.  "  It  was  necessary  that  the  patterns 
of  things  in  the  heavens  should  be  purified  with  these 


2i6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

[the  sacrifices  of  the  great  atonement  day]  ;  but  the 
heavenly  thmgs  themselves  with  better  sacrifices  than 
these"  (Heb.  ix.  23).  ''The  holy  places  made  with 
hands  "  w^ere  but  "  figures  of  the  true  "  ;  but  now  the 
Holy  Place  not  made  with  hands,  even  Heaven  itself,  is 
reconciled,  and  ready  for  the  entrance  of  a  redeemed 
and  purified  people. 

And  accordingly,  our  great  High-Priest,  having  laid 
aside  His  plain  vesture  of  mortal  flesh,  re-clothes  Him- 
self with  His  garments  of  glory  and  beauty,  and  thus 
attired,  in  the  fair  form  of  His  resurrection  vesture, 
bearing  upon  His  strong  and  conquering  shoulders  the 
weight,  and  in  His  warm  and  loving  heart  the  names, 
of  all  His  children,  He  leads  the  way  as  "  the  Fore- 
runner"  into  the  holy,  blessed  presence  of  our  loving 
reconciled  Father,  God. 

The  very  close  connection  between  atonement  and 
the  obedience  of  the  daily  life,  is  strikingly  suggested 
by  the  easy  and  natural  way  in  which  the  transition  is 
made  from  the  lofty  regions  of  faith  into  which  the 
symbolism  of  the  sixteenth  chapter  has  elevated  the 
thoughts  of  the  faithful,  to  the  level  ground  of  ordinary 
every-day  duties  in  the  chapters  which  follow.  We  have 
here,  as  it  were,  an  answer  by  anticipation  to  the  objec- 
tion raised  against  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  in  later 
times.  One  might  readily  conceive  a  danger  attendant 
upon  such  a  service  as  that  which  we  have  been  follow- 
ing, culminating  in  the  strongest  assurance  that  all  the 
iniquities  of  the  people  have  been,  on  the  ground  of  an 
atonement   so   easily  offered  and   so   ready  to  hand,  re- 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.         217 

moved    for   ever   out    of  sight— the  danger   of  making 
light  of  the  necessity  of  daily  obedience.     This  danger 
is  guarded  against  by  an  abrupt  and  peremptory  return 
to  the  legal  enactments  which   immediately  follow  ;  so 
that  Moses  might  have  challenged  criticism  in  much  the 
same  terms  as  the  Apostle  Paul  did,  when  he  said  :  "  Do 
we  then  make  void  the  law  through  faith  ?     Nay,  rather, 
we  establish  the  law."     The  opening  of  heaven  is  of  no 
value  unless  it  lead   to  the  hallowing  of  earth.     Mere 
religiousness  will  never  do.     There  are  those  who  under 
the   influence    of  Divine   things   get    into    exalted  and 
ecstatic  states,  see  glorious  visions,  and  seem  to  sit  for  a 
time  at  heaven's    gate,  who   are   nevertheless    capable 
afterwards  of  very  mean  actions.     There  is  no  counte- 
nance   in    Scripture    to    such    glaring    inconsistencies. 
When  we  shall  have  been  finally  purged  from  our  selfish- 
ness, it  will  be  time  to  indulge  in   these  transports  with- 
out  anything  to  hold  in   check  our   holy   enthusiasm. 
But   meantime  matter-of-fact    duty    must    attend   very 
closely  on   our  loftiest  exercises  of  faith  and  hope.     If 
we  may  "  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles  "  at  times,  we 
must  even  then  see  that  we  are  ready  to  "  run  and  not 
be  weary,  and  to  walk  and  not  faint,"  even  though  the 
walking  may  seem  to  be  mere  plodding  along  a  "  plain 
path."     No  building  of  tabernacles  on  the  mount  as  yet 

only  a  short  stay  and  a  quick  return  to  the  duties  and 

services  of  the  plain  beneath. 

In  the  seventeenth  chapter  there  are  regulations  about 
food;  in  the  eighteenth,  regarding  marriage  and  the 
purity  of  the  family  relations  ;  in  the  nineteenth  and 
twentieth,  sundry  precepts  of  general  morality  ;  and  in 


2i8  The  Mosaic  Era. 

the  twenty-first  and  twenty-second,  special  regulations 
for  the  conduct  of  the  priests  of  the  Lord.  Here  again 
our  plan  forbids  the  investigation  of  details.  I  shall 
therefore  only  make  a  few  general  remarks  on  the  char- 
acteristics of  these  regulations. 

First,  in  regard  to  those  passages  which  caution  the 
people  against  vices  of  special  enormity,  we  must  re- 
member that  they  were  about  to  be  settled  in  dangerous 
proximity  to  peoples  who  were  thoroughly  corrupted 
by  these  very  vices,  and  therefore  the  cautions  were  not 
by  any  means  unnecessary.  Accustomed  as  most  of  us 
are  to  the  pure  air  of  Christian  society,  in  which,  not- 
withstanding all  the  selfishness  and  sin  that  still  abound, 
vices  such  as  these  are  "  not  so  much  as  named,"  and 
the  very  possibility  of  them  seems  out  of  the  question, 
it  is  difficult  for  us  to  imagine  how  different  was  the  con- 
dition of  society,  before  these  purifying  influences  were 
brought  to  bear  on  it,  which  issued  from  Mount  Sinai  first, 
and  afterwards  from  Gennesaret's  shore  and  "  the  place 
called  Calvary."  And  when  we  find  such  warnings  in  the 
book  of  Leviticus,  we  ought  in  the  first  place  to  feel  hum- 
bled by  the  thought  of  the  fearful  lengths  to  which  sin  un- 
restrained by  Divine  grace  will  carry  its  wretched  victim  ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  to  lift  up  our  hearts  in  grati- 
tude to  God,  that  in  these  latter  days,  though  evil  still 
abounds,  we*  are  nevertheless  protected  from  such  out- 
rages to  our  moral  and  spiritual  nature  as  those  to  which 
even  the  chosen  people  were  exposed  in  the  ancient  times. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  pleasant  to  find  in  these  chap- 
ters the  evidence  that  the  Mosaic  law  came  in  many  re- 
spects nearer  to  the  morality  of  the  New  Testament  than 


Ritual  of  the  Most  Holy  Place.         219 

most  people  are  willing  to  admit.  For  illustration,  let 
us  read  a  few  of  these  laws.  ^'  When  ye  reap  the  harvest 
of  your  land,  thou  shalt  not  wholly  reap  the  corners  of 
thy  field,  neither  shalt  thou  gather  every  grape  of  thy 
vineyard ;  thou  shalt  leave  them  for  the  poor  and  stranger. 
I  am  the  Lord  your  God  "  (xix.  9,  10).  "  Thou  shalt  rise 
up  before  the  hoary  head,  and  honour  the  face  of  an  old 
man,  and  fear  thy  God :  I  am  the  Lord  "  (ver.  32) — a 
much  needed  injunction  still.  "And  if  a  stranger  so- 
journ with  thee  in  your  land,  ye  shall  not  vex  him.  But 
the  stranger  that  dwelleth  with  you  shall  be  unto  you  as 
one  born  among  you,  and  thou  shalt  love  him  as  thyself ; 
for  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt :  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God"  (ver.  33,  34). 

Finally,  it  is  interesting  to  notice  in  these  regulations, 
and  throughout  the  entire  Law,  the  care  which  is  taken 
to  keep  religion  and  morality  closely  wedded  and  welded 
together.  "  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,"  is  continually  put 
forth,  not  as  a  creed  article,  but  as  an  unanswerable  argu- 
ment for  strictest  obedience  and  the  most  scrupulous  in- 
tegrity. The  relations  of  privilege  which  the  people  en- 
joyed are  continually  set  forth  as  increasing  their  respon- 
sibility. "  To  whom  much  is  given,  of  them  much  shall 
be  required,"  is  a  principle  taken  for  granted  all  through. 
The  quotations  already  given  are  sufficient  illustration  ; 
but  another  may  be  added,  especially  as,  unhappily,  the 
world  has  not  yet  outgrown  the  need  of  it.  "  Ye  shall 
do  no  unrighteousness  in  judgment,  in  meteyard,  in 
weight,  or  in  measure.  Just  balances,  just  weights,  a 
just  ephah,  and  a  just  hin,  shall  ye  have  :  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God,  which  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  " 


220  The  Mosaic  Era. 

(ver.  35,  36).  And  so,  too,  in  the  closing  passages  of  our 
long  section :  "  Therefore  shall  ye  keep  My  command- 
ments, and  do  them  :  I  am  the  Lord.  Neither  shall  ye 
profane  My  holy  name ;  but  I  will  be  hallowed  among 
the  children  of  Israel :  I  am  the  LORD  which  hallow 
you,  that  brought  you  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  be 
your  God  :  I  am  the  LORD  "  (xxii.  32,  33). 


XIV. 
SACRED   TIMES. 

LEVITICUS  XXIII.-XXVII. 

THE  sacred  times  of  Israel  are  arranged  in  cycles  of 
seven,  the  sacred  number.  There  seem  to  be  no 
data  in  Scripture  for  determining  on  what  idea  the 
sacredness  of  the  number  seven  is  founded.  In  the 
symbolic  numbers  of  other  nations  we  may  possibly  find 
some  assistance,  especially  in  the  system  of  Pythagoras, 
who  on  account  of  extensive  travel,  particularly  in  Egypt, 
is  likely  to  have  been  acquainted  with  the  mind  of  the 
ancients  on  the  subject  which  lay  nearest  to  his  heart. 
In  his  system,  three  was  the  symbol  of  the  infinite,  and 
four  of  the  finite,  the  Cosmos.  The  number  seven 
(r^  3  +  4)  represented  the  union  of  the  infinite  and  finite, 
of  heaven  and  earth,  of  God  and  man.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible there  may  be  some  thought  of  this  kind  underlying 
the  sacredness  of  the  number;  and  perhaps  we  have 
some  indication  of  it  in  the  fact  that  the  same  combina- 
tion of  letters  which  is  used  in  the  Hebrew  language  for 
the  word  seven,  means  also  an  oath,  which  is  an  appeal 
from  the  finite  to  the  infinite.  But,  whatever  be  the  ex- 
planation, the  fact  is  evident,  that  seven  was  a  sacred 
number,  and  that  accordingly  the  sacred  times  are  ar- 

(221) 


222  The  Mosaic  Era. 

ranged  in  cycles  of  seven.  There  is  first  a  cycle  of  seven 
days,  ending  with  the  Sabbath ;  then  a  cycle  of  seven 
weeks,  closing  with  ''  the  Feast  of  Weeks  "  ;  a  cycle  of 
seven  months,  culminating  in  the  Month  of  Feasts ;  a 
cycle  of  seven  years,  closing  with  the  Sabbatical  Year ; 
and  a  cycle  of  seven  sevens  of  years,  or  seven  weeks  of 
years,  followed  by  the  Jubilee. 

I. — The  Seven  Days,  closing  with  the 
Sabbath. 

We  shall  not  dwell  on  this  most  familiar  cycle  of  seven, 
further  than  to  call  attention  to  the  way  in  which  it  is 
introduced  :  "  Concerning  the  feasts  of  the  Lord,  which 
ye  shall  proclaim  to  be  holy  convocations,  even  these  are 
My  feasts.  Six  days  shall  work  be  done  :  but  the  seventh 
day  is  the  Sabbath  of  rest."  The  Sabbath,  then,  was  a 
/cast  day.  It  is  very  common  now  to  represent  the  Jew- 
ish Sabbath  as  a  day  of  bondage,  of  weariness  and  dreari- 
ness. That  many  otherwise  intelligent  and  even  learned 
people  are  in  the  habit  of  so  characterizing  it,  does  not 
alter  the  fact  that  it  is  a  mark  of  inexcusable  ignorance 
so  to  do.  The  Sabbath  was  intended  to  be,  and  to  all 
true  Hebrews  really  was,  a  day  of  rejoicing,  the  choicest 
day  of  all  the  seven.  The  first  object  was  rest  :  "  Six  days 
shalt  thou  do  thy  work,  and  on  the  seventh  day  thou 
shalt  rest."  Is  it  so  hard  and  cruel  a  thing  to  insist  on 
working  people  having  a  day's  rest  after  six  days'  labour? 
"  Six  days  shalt  thou  work,  and  on  the  seventh  thou  shalt 
rest ;  that  thine  ox  and  thine  ass  may  rest,  and  the 
stranger  may  be  refreshed."  The  critics  we  refer  to 
often  speak  as  if    Sabbath  laws  were  bad  enough  for 


Sacred  Times.  223 

those  "  to  the  manner  born,"  but  intolerable  for  strangers 
with  different  habits  who  are  unfortunate  enough  to  re- 
side among  them.  It  all  depends  on  the  way  it  is  look- 
ed at ;  and  here  is  the  way  the  law  of  Moses  looked  at 
it :  "  that  the  stranger  may  be  refreshed^  It  is  not  the 
idea  of  restraint  that  is  prominent,  it  is  rest  and  refresh- 
ment. Then  there  is  the  additional  idea  of  holiness: 
''  remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy."  There 
are  those  to  whom  the  very  thought  of  holiness  is  an  in- 
tolerable burden.  All  we  can  say  about  them  is,  that 
they  are  deeply  to  be  pitied.  To  crown  all,  there  is  the 
thought  o{joy,  which  appears  all  through  the  Old  Testa- 
ment references  to  the  Sabbath.  Rest,  refreshment,  holi- 
ness, joy — these  are  the  ideas  which  are  connected  with 
the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  (the  Sabbath  of  the  Rabbis  was 
a  different  thing),  and  yet  our  intelligent  critics  tell  us — 
and  iterate  and  reiterate  it  ad  nauseam — that  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Decalogue  was  a  dreary  bondage. 

Not  only  so,  but  the  entire  Jewish  system  is  often 
represented  as  dull,  dreary,  and  dolorous.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  was  characterized  especially  by  times  of  feasting 
and  rejoicing.  See  how  much  there  is  in  the  law  about 
"■  the  feasts  of  the  Lord,"  and  how  little  about  fasting ! 
The  year  was  studded  over  with  feast-days.  There  was 
only  one  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation,  viz.,  the  great 
Atonement  Day.  Later  on  in  the  history,  when  the 
sins  of  the  people  had  drawn  down  upon  them  Divine 
chastisements  in  the  shape  of  great  national  calamxities, 
fast  days  were  multiplied  ;  but  in  the  beginning  it  was 
not  so.  The  Lord's  intention  was  to  fill  the  week,  the 
month,  the  year,  with  joy.     It  was  for  this  purpose  that 


224  The  Mosaic  Era. 

all  the  feasts  were  appointed,  and  specially  the  first  and 
most  frequently  recurring,  and  therefore  the  most  blessed 
of  all,  the  holy,  joyous  Sabbath. 

II.  — The    Seven    Weeks,    beginning    with    the 
Passover  and  closing  with  Pentecost. 

This  cycle  of  weeks  was  of  yearly  recurrence.  It 
began  with  the  Passover  eve,  that  "  night  to  be  much 
observed  unto  the  Lord,  for  bringing  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt ;  that  night  to  be  observed  of  all  the 
children  of  Israel  in  their  generations."  As  the  orig- 
inal Passover  was  the  beginning  of  their  national  his- 
tory, so  the  anniversary  of  it  was  regarded  as  the  be- 
ginning of  the  sacred  year ;  the  month  of  Abib  in  which 
it  occurred  being  reckoned  the  first  month,  in  accordance 
with  the  regulation  made  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus  : 
"  this  month  shall  be  unto  you  the  beginning  of  months  ; 
it  shall  be  the  first  month  of  the  year  to  you." 

The  feast  of  the  Passover  was,  in  the  first  place,  com- 
memorative. It  celebrated  the  great  deliverance  from 
Egyptian  bondage.  But,  inasmuch  as  that  deliverance 
was  itself  typical  of  the  great  salvation  from  sin,  the 
ceremonial  of  the  Passover  feast  was  typical  of  the 
means  by  which  this  great  salvation  was  to  be  effected. 
As  we  had  this  before  us  in  our  study  of  the  Exodus, 
we  need  not  dwell  on  it  now.  The  feast  of  the  Passover, 
occupying  a  day,  was  immediately  followed  by  ''  the 
feast  of  Unleavened  Bread,"  lasting  for  a  week.  We 
have  seen  already  that  bread  was  a  constant  symbol  of 
life,  while  leaven  stood  for  corruption ;  so  that  the  idea 
associated  with  unleavened  bread  is  that  of  life  purified 


Sacred  Times. 


225 


from  evil.  The  seven  days  during  which  the  feast  lasted, 
being  a  complete  cycle  of  time,  fitly  represented  life  in 
its  entirety,  which  ought  to  be  purified  from  all  evil  as 
the  result  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  symbolized  in  the 
Passover.  The  connection  of  ideas  is  very  clearly 
brought  out  by  the  Apostle  Paul  in  his  first  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  (v.  7,  8) :  "  Purge  out  therefore  the  old 
leaven,  that  ye  may  be  a  new  lump,  as  ye  are  unleavened. 
For  even  Christ  our  Passover  is  sacrificed  for  us  :  there- 
fore let  us  keep  the  feast,  not  with  old  leaven,  neither 
with  the  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness ;  but  with  the 
unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth." 

There  was  one  day  in  the  week  of  the  feast  which 
was  specially  signalized.  It  was  the  day  following  the 
Sabbath  of  that  week  (Lev.  xxiii.  1 1).  On  that  day 
the  first  sheaf  of  the  early  harvest,  the  barley  harvest, 
which  at  that  season  of  the  year  was  just  beginning  to 
be  gathered,  was  presented  by  waving  to  the  Lord.  It 
was  from  this  day,  ''Wave-sheaf  Day"  we  may  call  it, 
that  the  seven  weeks  of  Pentecost  were  counted.  The 
special  importance  of  this  will  appear  by-and-by. 

The  day  after  the  seven  weeks  closed,  being  the  fiftieth 
day,  was  the  feast  of  Pentecost  (ver.  15,  16).  This  feast 
had  probably  a  historical  basis  too,  the  fiftieth  day  being 
the  anniversary  of  the  Lord's  appearing  on  Sinai  ;  but 
if  it  were  so,  the  historical  reference  did  not  appear  in 
the  ritual  for  the  day,  which  had  regard,  like  the  ritual 
of  the  wave-sheaf  day,  from  which  the  seven  weeks  were 
counted,  to  the  harvest  operations.  By  this  time  the 
wheat  harvest  had  been  gathered  in,  and  in  accordance 
with  this  the  characteristic  ceremony  of  the  day  was  the 
10* 


226  The  Mosaic  Era. 

presentation  by  waving  to  the  Lord  of  two  loaves,  baked 
from  the  meal  of  the  recent  harvest.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that,  while  with  the  w^ave  sheaf  of  the  earlier 
feast  no  sin-offering  was  presented,  and  no  leaven  was  in 
use  (it  being  the  days  of  unleavened  bread),  the  wave 
loaves  of  the  later  feast  were  by  express  orders  baked 
with  leaven  (ver.  17),  and  their  presentation  to  the  Lord 
was  accompanied  with  a  sin-offering  (ver.  19).  On  the 
significance  of  this  we  shall  have  something  more  to  say 
farther  on.  Meantime  it  is  enough  to  notice  that  the 
s/ica/\v2LS  the  work  of  God,  pure  and  simple,  offered  just 
as  it  grew  in  the  field,  whereas  the  /oaves  were  the  result 
of  man's  labour  in  a  sense  in  which  the  other  was  not. 
God's  work  is  perfect  ;  man's  at  best  is  mixed  with 
evil,  and  needs  to  be  atoned  for.  The  feast  of  Pente- 
cost, as  we  have  seen,  closes  the  cycle  of  the  seven 
weeks. 

in.  —  The   Seven   Months,   culminating  in  the 
Month  of  Feasts. 

The  month  of  the  Passover  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
first  month  of  the  sacred  year.  The  feast  of  Pentecost, 
coming  as  it  did  at  the  close  of  the  seven-week  cycle, 
occurred  in  the  third  month.  But  the  culmination  and 
crown  of  the  sacred  year  was  in  the  seventh  month  (ver. 
23-44).  There  were  three  great  occasions  in  this  month. 
The  first  was  the  feast  of  Trumpets  (ver.  23-25).  The 
blowing  of  the  trumpets  summoned  the  people  to  a 
holy  convocation,  which  ushered  in  the  special  joy  of 
the  specially  sacred  month.     But  the  highest  joy  which 


Sacred  Times.  227 

is  possible  to  man  on  earth  can  be  reached  only  through 
the  valley  of  humiliation  and  the  pathway  of  penitential 
sorrow.  Hence  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  month  there 
were  the  solemnities  of  the  great  Atonement  Day  (ver. 
26-32),  which  formed  the  subject  of  our  last  lecture. 
We  then  dwelt  on  the  remarkable  fact,  which  appears 
again  in  the  passage  before  us  with  still  greater  emphasis, 
that  the  day  on  which  the  Holy  of  Holies  was  opened 
was  the  one  day  of  the  year  which  was  specially  set 
apart  for  fasting  and  humiliation  and  penitential  sorrow. 
But  it  is  important  now  to  notice  that,  after  the  short 
season  of  humiliation  was  over,  the  crowning  joy  of  all 
the  year  was  ushered  in.  The  day  of  fasting,  occurring 
on  the  tenth,  was  followed  by  a  four  days'  pause,  to  give 
its  solemn  impressions  time  to  be  graven  deeply  on  the 
people's  souls,  and  then,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the 
month,  the  nation  was  summoned  to  the  festivities  and 
rejoicings  of  the  great  feast  of  Tabernacles  (ver.  33-44). 

This  feast  lasted  seven  days,  like  the  feast  of  unleav- 
ened bread  at  the  beginning  of  the  year ;  and  the  sacred 
joy  increased  from  day  to  day  until  ''  the  last  day,  that 
great  day  of  the  feast,"  concerning  which  it  was  a  com- 
mon saying  of  the  Rabbis  that  he  who  had  not  seen  the 
rejoicing  of  the  people  at  that  glad  time,  had  yet  to 
learn  what  true  joy  was.  As  in  the  others,  there  was  a 
historical  basis  for  the  celebration.  It  commemorated 
the  time  when,  after  leaving  Egypt  behind  them,  the 
children  of  Israel  gathered  in  their  first  camp  of  freedom 
at  Succoth,  where  they  had  built  themselves  booths  or 
leafy  huts,  whence  the  name.  Hence  also  the  use  of 
palm  branches  and  boughs  of  goodly  trees  (ver.  40),  and 


228  The  Mosaic  Era. 

the  dwelling  in  booths  (ver.  42)  during  the  celebration. 
It  is  interesting  to  find  here  the  roots  of  that  familiar 
association  of  ideas  by  which  palm  branches  are  the 
recognized  symbols  of  triumph. 

Like  the  other  great  feasts,  this  one  was  also  associ- 
ated vvdth  the  labours  of  the  husbandman.  It  was  the 
great  harvest  festival,  "  the  harvest  home "  of  Israel. 
The  entire  produce  and  vintage  of  the  year  were  by  this 
time  gathered  in ;  and  accordingly  it  was  known  fre- 
quently as  the  feast  of  Ingathering.  In  this  aspect  it 
may  be  regarded  as  prophetical  of  the  times  of  consum- 
mation, the  culmination  of  the  Sacred  Year  of  the  Lord, 
when  the  *'  great  multitude  which  no  man  can  number, 
of  all  nations  and  people  and  kindred  and  tongues,  shall 
stand  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and 
palms  in  their  hands,  crying  with  a  loud  voice,  '  Salvation 
to  our  God  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the 
Lamb.'  " 

Before  passing  to  the  remaining  cycles  of  seven,  it 
may  be  well  to  pause,  as  indeed  the  sacred  writer  pauses 
(see  chap,  xxiv.,  which  is  obviously  parenthetical),  in 
order  to  revievv^  the  Sacred  Year,  and  gather  from  it  any 
lessons  it  may  contain  concerning  Him  in  whom  all  the 
types  and  shadows  of  the  law  find  their  fulfilment  and 
realization.  For  this  purpose  it  will  be  well  to  examine 
the  diagram  opposite,  which  the  pages  following  ex- 
plain. 

The  sacrifice  of  "  Christ  our  Passover  "  is  already  quite 
familiar  to  us,  only  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention  to  the 


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230  The  Mosaic  Era. 

striking  illustration  of  it,  which  was  given  by  our  Lord 
Himself  to  Andrew  and  Philip,  on  their  calling  His 
attention  to  the  desire  to  see  Him  of  certain  Greeks, 
who  had  come  "  to  worship  at  the  feast,"  that  very  feast 
of  Passover  which  was  signalized  by  His  crucifixion.  It 
is  this:  '^Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Except  a  corn 
of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone  : 
but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit  ....  and  I,  if 
I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto 
Me.  This  He  said,  signifying  what  death  He  should 
die  "  (John  xii.  24-33). 

On  the  day  following  the  Sabbath,  the  first  sheaf  of 
the  early  harvest  was  presented  to  the  Lord.  And  it  was 
on  that  very  day,  the  day  following  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Passover,  being  the  first  day  of  the  week,  that  Christ 
rose  from  the  dead,  and  became  "  the  jirstfruits  of  them 
that  sleep  "  (i  Cor.  xv.  20). 

After  the  lapse  of  seven  weeks  from  that  day  (you 
remember  how  carefully  Israel  was  instructed  to  count 
the  seven  weeks  from  the  wave-sheaf  morn),  on  the  fif- 
tieth, or  Pentecostal  day,  the  first  loaves  of  the  harvest 
were  presented  to  the  Lord ;  and  on  that  very  day,  the 
fiftieth  or  Pentecostal  day  after  His  resurrection,  there 
were  presented  to  the  Lord  the  firstfriiits  of  the  results 
of  His  great  redeeming  work,  when  the  first  three  thou^ 
sand  converts  were  gathered  by  the  labours  of  the 
Apostles  (Acts  ii.)  And  do  we  not  now  see  a  special 
significance  in  the  presence  of  leaven  in  the  loaves,  and 
the  accompaniment  of  the  sin-offering  in  the  presenta- 
tion ?  Christ  Himself  was  the  Firstfruits ;  and  He  was 
absolutely  without  taint  of  the  leaven  of  sin,     B,ut  when 


Sacred  Times.  231 

the  firstfrults  of  His  people  are  presented  to  the  Lord, 
though  their  sins  are  forgiven,  they  are  far  from  perfect 
yet ;  the  leaven  of  evil  is  still  there,  and  will  show  itself, 
alas !  too  soon,  in  the  guilt  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira. 
Still,  they  do  belong  to  the  spiritual  harvest,  and  though, 
in  token  of  the  sin  that  still  is  found  among  them,  the 
use  of  leaven  and  the  accompaniment  of  the  sin-offering 
find  a  place  in  the  ritual  of  presentation,  yet  imperfect 
as  they  are,  they  are  presented  to  the  Lord  and  accepted 
by  Him  as  the  firstfruits  of  the  great  harvest  Vv'hich  shall 
be  garnered  in  the  fulness  of  the  times. 

The  Ingathering  Week,  as  we  have  seen,  will  find  its 
antitype  in  the  great  gathering  of  the  reeleeineei  of  all  na- 
tions which  shall  close  the  Sacred  Year  of  the  Lord. 
The  days  in  which  we  live,  come  in  between  Pentecost 
and  the  Ingathering.  By  faith  we  look  backwards  and 
grasp  the  great  facts  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of 
our  Lord  (Passover  Eve  and  Wave-sheaf  Morn),  and  the 
descent  of  the  Comforter  (Pentecost).  In  hope  we  look 
forward  to  the  coming  Day  of  the  Lord,  and  rejoice  in 
the  anticipated  glories  of  the  great  Week  of  Ingathering 
which  that  day  shall  usher  in.  Meantime  we  are  called 
in  the  devotion  of  loving  service  to  work  as  well  as  wait 
for  His  coming,  blowing  the  Gospel  trumpet,  and  pro- 
claiming the  full  Atonement  which  prepares  the  way  for 
the  glorious  consummation.     (See  Diagram). 

IV. — The    Seven   Years,    closing    with   the 
Sabbatical  Year. 

Just  as  the  last  of  every  seven  days  was  a  Sabbath 
day,  so  the  last  of  every  seven  years  was  a  Sabbath  year, 


232  The  Mosaic  Era. 

according  to  the  law  in  Leviticus  xxv.  1-7.  During  this 
year  the  ordinary  labours  of  the  husbandman  were  sus- 
pended (ver.  4) ;  but  we  are  not  from  this  to  infer,  as 
Tacitus  does  in  a  passing  reference  to  the  Jews  of  his 
time,  that  the  seventh  year  was  devoted  to  idleness ;  for 
it  must  be  remembered  that  there  was  no  prohibition  of 
vv'ork  in  general,  such  as  applied  to  the  seventh  day. 
The  rest  of  the  seventh  day  was  for  man  and  beast ;  the 
rest  of  the  seventh  year  was  for  the  land  :  "  it  is  a  year 
of  rest  unto  the  laucV  (ver.  5).  From  this  it  follows  that 
the  year  would  afford  an  opportunity  for  attending  to 
many  necessary  things  which  in  other  years  might  be  apt 
to  be  neglected  on  account  of  the  pressure  of  work  upon 
the  land  itself ;  just  as  the  long  months  of  the  Canadian 
winter  are  no  time  of  idleness  to  the  diligent  farmer 
there,  though  from  the  beginning  of  December  to  the 
end  of  March  the  soil  may  be  completely  and  thickly 
covered  with  its  heavy  mantle  of  snow.  The  ordinance 
of  the  Sabbatical  year  may  indeed  have  had  some  refer- 
ence to  the  advantages  which  were  to  be  derived  from 
allowing  land  that  is  cultivated  from  year  to  year  to  lie 
fallow  at  times ;  and  such  rest  would  be  all  the  more 
necessary  at  a  time  when  there  was  no  system,  such  as- 
prevails  now,  of  rotation  of  crops.  But  whatever  may 
be  thought  as  to  its  agricultural  bearing,  there  is  every 
reason  to  suppose  that,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  ritual,  the 
Sabbath  year  had  its  symbolical  meaning.  What  this 
may  have  been  will  be  more  advantageously  considered 
after  we  have  studied  the  Year  of  Jubilee. 

The  appointment  of  the  year  of  rest  for  the  land  was 
quite  a  severe  test  of  the  faith  of  Israel ;  and  in  the  ab- 


Sacred  Times. 


233 


sence  of  evidence  on  the  subject,  It  remains  doubtful 
whether  they  stood  the  test  in  the  early  years  of  their 
history.  It  would  almost  seem,  from  some  passages  (es- 
pecially 2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21),  that  the  ordinance  was  sys'- 
tematically  disregarded,  and  that  this  was  one  of  the 
reasons  why  the  national  history  was  so  sadly  unlike  its 
ideal.  There  is,  however,  evidence  to  show  that  the 
Sabbatical  year  was  observed  after  the  return  from  the 
Babylonish  Captivity. 

V. — The   Seven  Weeks  of  Years,  Followed  by 
THE  Jubilee. 

The  idea  of  weeks  of  years  was  quite  familiar  to  the 
Hebrew  mind,  and  the  more  so  that  the  Hebrew  word 
for  "  week "  was  simply  a  modification  of  the  word 
"  seven."  When  we  remember  this,  we  can  see  that 
there  is  nothing  arbitrary  in  the  interpretation  which  is 
usually  given  to  such  passages  as  that  in  Daniel,  where 
his  seventy  weeks  are  understood  to  mean  490  years 
(Dan.  Ix.  24).  So  many  weeks  literally  mean  so  many 
sevens.  Ordinarily,  of  course.  It  meant  sevens  of  days  ; 
but  there  was  nothing  out  of  the  way  in  its  application 
to  sevens  of  years,  especially  as  the  conception  of  weeks 
of  years  was  rendered  quite  familiar  by  the  mode  of 
reckoning  up  the  years  between  one  Jubilee  and  another. 

The  characteristic  features  of  the  Jubilee  year,  in  ad- 
dition to  what  it  had  in  common  with  the  Sabbatical 
year,  are  set  forth  In  the  tenth  verse  of  the  chapter  be- 
fore us:  "Ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  and  proclaim 
liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants 


234  The  Mosaic  Era. 

thereof:  it  shall  be  a  jubilee  unto  you  ;  and  ye  shall  re- 
turn every  man  unto  his  possession,  and  ye  shall  return 
every  man  unto  his  family."  Here  we  have,  as  always, 
the  predominant  notes  of  holiness  and  joy :  "  Ye  shall 
Jiallow  the  fiftieth  year " ;  "  it  shall  be  a  jubilee'^ 
unto  you."  The  former  is  the  keynote  of  the  entire 
Mosaic  system  ;  the  latter  is  the  predominant  strain 
(for,  as  we  have  seen,  there  is  very  little  of  the  minor 
key  in  it)  throughout ;  and  the  notes  of  the  Jubilee 
were  the  climax  of  the  "joyful  noise  "  which  this  favour- 
ed land  was  called  to  make  unto  the  Lord  (Ps.  c.  i).  The 
special  occasions  of  jubilation  in  the  Jubilee  year  are 
also  given  in  the  verse  we  have  just  quoted  :  first,  the 
proclamation  of  "  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto 
all  the  inhabitants  thereof,"  and  next  an  invitation  to 
"  return  every  man  unto  his  possession,"  and  ''  every 
man  unto  his  family." 

Here  again  there  is  undoubtedly  a  political  foundation 
for  the  Jubilee  ordinance,  just  as  there  probably  was  an 
agricultural  basis  for  the  ordinance  of  the  Sabbatical 
year ;  and  a  very  little  consideration  will  show  that,  as  a 
political  regulation,  it  would  operate  to  prevent  the  ac- 
cumulation of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  tend 
to  preserve  that  comparative  social  equality  which  dis- 
tinguished the  community  of  Israel  in  the  beginning. 
It  would,  indeed,  tend  periodically  to  rectify  all  those 
disorders  and  abuses  which  are  apt  to  grow  up  in  the 
state,  and  become  aggravated  by  the  lapse  of  time,  and 


*  The  most  probable  derivation  of  the  word   "jubilee  "  is,  by 
onomatopoeia,  from  a  sound  expressiv^e  of  joy. 


Sacred  Times.  235 

would  give  those  who  had  been  unfortunate  or  incon- 
siderate, an  opportunity  of  beginning  afresh  in  the 
ancient  patrimony.  And  all  this  would  be  accomplish- 
ed without  the  slightest  infringement  of  vested  or  ac- 
quired rights,  inasmuch  as  the  law  was  made  before  the 
land  was  divided,  before  a  single  transaction  had  been 
entered  into  in  reference  to  any  part  of  it ;  so  that 
whatever  was  done,  was  done  with  the  full  knowledge  of 
the  bearing  which  the  Jubilee  law  would  have  upon 
the  transaction,  when  the  appointed  time  came  round. 

But  while  the  political  importance  of  the  Jubilee  is 
sufficiently  obvious,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it  had 
a  symbolical  and  prophetic  significance  as  well.  This 
appears  in  sundry  passages,  notably  in  that  passage  in 
Isaiah  which  our  Lord  read  at  the  opening  of  His  min- 
istry in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  as  recorded  by  Luke 
(iv.  18,  19):  ''The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  Me,  be- 
cause He  hath  anointed  Me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
poor  ;  He  hath  sent  Me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of 
sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised  ; 
to  preach  tJic  acceptable  year  of  the  Lordy  And  then 
He  began  to  say,  ''  This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears."  Thus  our  Lord  Himself  claimed  that  in  His 
Gospel  the  Year  of  Jubilee  received  its  fulfilment.  And 
surely  the  claim  was  well  founded.  Did  He  not  ''  pro- 
claim liberty  through  all  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof"  (Lev.  xxv.  10)?  And  not  only  through  all  the 
land,  but  through  all  the  eartJi ;  and  here  it  is  important 
to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Hebrew  word  for  ''  earth  "  and 
for  "  land  "  is  the  same,  so  that  the  words  in  Leviticus 


236  The  Mosaic  Era.- 

can,  without  the  alteration  of  a  single  letter,  be  so  ap- 
plied :  "  Proclaim  liberty  through  all  the  earth  to  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof."  "  Behold  the  lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  ivorld  I  "  And  the  connection 
Is  made  still  closer  when  we  remember  that  the  Septua- 
glnt  translation  of  "  the  Jubilee  "  was  ''the  year  of  for- 
giveness" ;  so  that,  by  the  common  use  of  that  transla- 
tion, the  minds  of  the  people  were  specially  prepared 
for  finding  In  the  forgiveness  of  sins  which  was  preached 
by  Jesus  Christ  the  fulfilment  of  the  leading  character- 
istic of  the  Jubilee.  And  then  did  He  not  proclaim  also 
the  ''  return  of  every  man  unto  his  possession,"  and  of 
"  every  man  unto  his  family  "  ?  By  sin  every  man  had 
forfeited  his  original  birthright,  and  had  been  banished 
from  the  blessed  family  of  his  Father  God,  and  had  thus 
become  a  pauper  and  an  outcast.  Jesus  Christ  came  to 
restore  us  to  our  lost  inheritance,  and  to  the  family  from 
which  we  had  wandered.  "  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  though  He  was  rich,  yet  for 
your  sakes  became  poor,  that  ye  through  His  poverty 
might  be  made  rich."  And  ye  know  also  that  ''  to  as 
many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  be- 
come the  sons  of  God."  And  all  this  He  did  in  such  a 
way  as  not  to  dim  in  the  slightest,  but  rather  greatly  to 
increase,  the  lustre  of  the  Divine  holiness.  We  thus  see 
that  in  every  sense  of  the  term,  ''  the  acceptable  year  of 
the  Lord  "  which  the  Saviour  preached  was  the  fulfilling 
of  all  that  was  symbolic  and  prophetic  in  the  grand  old 
Jubilee  of  Israel. 

If  we  follow  carefully  the  series  of  sacred  cycles  of 


Sacred  Times.  237 

time,  which  we  have  briefly  surveyed,  we  shall  find  first 
a  strictly  Sabbatic  or  seventh  day  series  culminating  in 
the  Sabbatical  year ;  and  then,  growing  out  of  it,  another 
similar  series,  not  strictly  Sabbatic,  but  rather  an  eighth 
day  series,  retaining,  however,  the  Sabbatical  characteris- 
tics, and  culminating  in  the  Jubilee.  Let  us  look  at  each 
of  these  in  succession. 


I.— The  Sabbatic  Series. 

Here  we  have  first  a  day  series,  six  days  of  labour  fol- 
lowed by  one  of  rest ;  then  a  month  series,  six  months 
at  the  beginning  of  each  sacred  year,  followed  by  the 
Sabbatical  month ;  and  finally,  a  year  series,  six  years 
of  ordinary  labour,  and  then  a  year  of  rest  for  the  land. 
Now,  it  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  this  arrange- 
ment of  six  working  periods  (not  necessarily  days,  as  is 
evident),  followed  by  a  period  of  rest,  is  rooted  in  the 
six  working  days  or  periods  of  creation,  followed  by  the 
day  of  Divine  rest  (see  Exod.  xx.  11,  and  Heb.  iv.  3). 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  evidence  in  Scripture  to 
show  that  the  Sabbath  was  a  type  of  "  the  rest  that  re- 
maineth  for  the  people  of  God  "  after  the  working  time 
of  life  on  earth  is  over.  What  is  the  inference  from 
these  unquestioned  facts  of  Scripture  ?  Is  it  not  fair  to 
infer  that  in  these  successive  Sabbatical  series,  beginning 
with  the  miniature  series  of  the  week  of  days,  and  en- 
larging to  the  week  of  years,  we  have  a  symbolic  pre- 
sentation of  God's  plan  in  creation  and  in  providence,  of 
six  working  periods  of  indefinite  extent,  characterized 
by  effort,  struggle,  trial,  slow  and  sometimes  uncertain 


238  The  Mosaic  Era. 

progress,  onward  to  a  glorious  end,  to  be  realized  and  en- 
joyed in  a  seventh  period,  distinguished  from  the  six  as 
a  period  of  rest — not  the  rest  of  inactivity,  however,  but 
the  rest  of  freedom  from  the  efforts  and  struggles  and 
trials  of  the  preceding  periods?  So  much  in  general; 
but  we  shall  find  something  more  special  and  more  strik- 
ing; when  we  look  at  the  other  series. 


II. — The  Eighth  Day  Series. 

Those  who  have  followed  attentively  these  cycles  of 
sacred  time,  must  have  observed  that,  while  seven  is  the 
ever  recurring  number,  and  while  the  seventh  of  each 
series  is  the  Sabbath,  there  have  also  come  in  some  very 
significant  eighths.  The  eighth  day  was  of  course  the 
first  of  a  new  series ;  but  it  is  not  as  the  first  of  an  or- 
dinary series  of  seven  that  it  is  treated,  but  as  an  extra 
day  beyond  the  seven.  As  an  eighth^  it  was  outside  of 
the  Jewish  cycles  of  seven.  Was  there  any  special  rea- 
son for  these  eighth  day  celebrations  ?  Let  us  look  at 
them  and  see. 

The  first  was  on  the  Wave-sheaf  morn.  Here  are  the 
directions  given :  "  The  priest  shall  wave  the  sheaf  be- 
fore the  Lord,  to  be  accepted  for  you :  on  the  morrow 
after  the  Sabbath  the  priest  shall  wave  it "  (Lev.  xxiii. 
1 1).  Now,  compare  with  this  the  evangelist  Matthew's 
account  of  the  resurrection,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  took 
place  on  Wave-sheaf  morn :  "  In  the  end  of  the  Sabbat Ji^ 
as  it  began  to  dazvn  tozvards  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
came  Mary,"  etc.  On  the  morrow  after  the  Sabbath 
Christ  rose  from  the  dead,  "  the  firstfruits  of  them  that 


Sacred  Times.  239 

sleep,"  accepted  for  them — very  early  in  the  morning,  as 
all  the  Evangelists  are  careful  to  state,  thus  beginning  a 
new  year,  not  embraced  within  the  compass  of  the  old 
Jewish  sacred  times,  but  opening  out  indefinitely  to  the 
great  spiritual  harvest,  of  which  the  eighth  day  celebra- 
tions were  the  recognized  types  (see  John  iv.  35). 

The  next  significant  eighth  was  Pentecost.  The  Sab- 
bath of  weeks  had  been  completed,  seven  times  seven 
days,  after  which  came  Pentecost,  not  on  the  forty-ninth 
day,  not  on  the  seventh  of  the  last  cycle  of  seven,  but 
on  the  eighth,  the  morrow  following  the  Sabbath.  And 
here  again  it  is  manifestly  outside  of  the  sacred  sevens, 
because  the  cycle  of  seven  weeks  came  only  once  a  year, 
so  that  the  fiftieth  day  pointed,  as  It  were,  out  into  vacant 
space.  As  the  Wave -sheaf  Day  was  the  morrow  after 
the  Sabbath  at  the  beginning,  Pentecost  was  the  morrow 
after  the  Sabbath  at  the  end  of  the  seven  weeks.  In 
the  same  way,  the  spiritual  Pentecost  was  the  fiftieth 
day  from  the  Resurrection,  and  accordingly  fell  also  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week.  On  that  day,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  firstfruits  of  results,  corresponding  to  the  first  loaves 
from  the  harvest,  were  presented  to  the  Lord,  and  being 
given  on  the  morrow  after  the  Sabbath,  the  finger  on 
Time's  dial  pointed,  not  backwards  to  the  years  of  the 
past,  but  forwards  to  the  full  harvest  of  the  future. 

The  third  significant  eighth  v/as  the  Jubilee  year.  It 
too  fell,  not  on  the  forty-ninth,  but  on  the  fiftieth.  If 
convenience  had  ruled  the  choice,  then  undoubtedly  the 
forty-ninth  would  have  been  chosen,  for  it  was  a  Sab- 
batical year,  as  all  the  last  of  the  successive  series  of 
seven  were.     And  indeed  the  obvious  Inconvenience  of 


240  The  Mosaic  Era. 

two  sacred  years  following  in  succession  has  made  so 
deep  an  impression  on  the  minds  of  some  interpreters, 
that  they  have  tried  to  make  it  appear  that  after  all  it 
was  the  forty-ninth,  and  not  the  fiftieth,  that  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  Jubilee.  But  the  language  of  the  ordi- 
nance is  too  precise  to  admit  of  any  such  theory.  ''  Thou 
shalt  number  seven  Sabbaths  of  years  unto  thee,  seven 
times  seven  years ;  and  the  space  of  the  seven  Sabbaths 
of  years  shall  be  unto  thee  forty  and  nine  years.  Then 
shalt  thou  cause  the  trumpet  of  the  Jubilee  to  sound  on 
the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  in  the  day  of  Atone- 
ment shall  ye  make  the  trumpet  sound  throughout  all 
your  land.  And  ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year  T  The 
Jubilee  was  evidently,  then,  like  Pentecost  and  like  the 
Wave-sheaf  morn,  an  eighth.  And  again,  we  see  how 
appropriately  it  was  so  appointed.  Having  its  fulfilment 
in  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  Jubilee,  it  belongs  to 
the  future  rather  than  to  the  past,  not  to  a  dispensation 
which  was  destined  to  "  wax  old,"  and  then  ''  vanish 
away,"  but  to  an  era  of  which  the  glorious  consumma- 
tion is  only  as  yet  dimly  sketched  in  the  apocalyptic 
vision  of  the  inspired  Seer  of  Patmos. 

And  now,  when  we  consider  how  these  eighth  days 
spring  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  cycles  of  seven  with 
their  Sabbatic  sevenths,  and  when  we  remember  that 
these  eighth  days  had  also  the  Sabbatical  characteristics, 
as  was  notably  the  case  with  the  year  of  Jubilee  (see 
Lev.  XXV.  II,  12),  we  can  see  very  clearly  how  natural 
it  was  that  the  seventh  day  of  the  Mosaic  economy 
should,  without  any  legislative  interference,  merge  into 
the  eighth  day,  or  first  day  of  the  week  of  the  Christian 


Sacred  Times.  241 

dispensation  ;  and  how  ignorant  those  are  of  the  sacred 
times  of  the  Hebrews,  who  represent  it  as  absurd  to 
suppose  that  the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  our  Sunday, 
as  they  call  it,  can  have  any  connection  with  the  Jewish 
Sabbath.  Not  only  was  the  change  a  natural  one  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  early  disciples,  which  is  all  that  is 
usually  argued  for,  but  the  way  is  prepared  for  it  in  the 
very  structure  of  the  Sabbatical  cycles  of  ancient  Israel. 
And  this  becomes  all  the  more  striking,  when  we  observe 
that,  though  the  feast  of  Tabernacles  was  always  spoken 
of  as  a  seven  days'  feast,  there  was  an  eighth  day  cele- 
bration grafted  on  it :  "  On  the  eightJi  day  shall  be  a  holy 
convocation  unto  you  ;  and  ye  shall  offer  an  offering 
made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord :  it  is  a  solemn  assembly ; 
and  ye  shall  do  no  servile  work  therein "  (xxiii.  36). 
This  day  had  evidently  all  the  characteristics  of  a  Sab- 
bath day  ;  and  yet,  coming  in  as  it  does  after  the  close  of 
the  last  feast  of  the  sacred  year  of  Israel,  it  gives  a  hint 
of  the  Sabbath  of  the  coming  era,  which  shall  no  longer 
be  the  seventh,  with  a  backward  reference  to  the  memo- 
ries of  the  past,  but  the  first  day  of  the  week,  with  a 
forward  reference  to  the  glories  of  an  age  whose  Sun 
arose,  never  more  to  set,  on  the  morrow  after  the  Sab- 
bath which  followed  the  last  Passover  of  the  old  cove- 
nant. 

The  chapters  which  follow  come  with  peculiar  sadness 
after  the  ordinance  ''  concerning  the  feasts  of  the  Lord." 
The  feasts  bespoke  joy  and  rejoicing.  Right  after  there 
is  a  long  chapter  (xxvi.),  the  most  of  which  is  iilled  with 
dark  threatenings  of  coming  vengeance.  There  are  rich 
II 


242  The  Mosaic  Era. 

promises  in  the  event  of  obedience  in  the  opening  verses 
of  the  chapter :  but  as  we  read  on  we  are  appalled  by 
the  terrible  threatenings.  But  did  not  the  event  prove 
how  necessary  they  were  ?  It  was  in  mercy  that  the 
Lord  warned  Israel  in  language  so  plain  and  stern.  And 
in  the  terrible  earnestness  which  appears  on  the  side  of 
the  threatening  have  we  not  an  indication  that  the  Lord 
foresaw  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  people  ?  In  fact,  the 
words  of  warning  become  so  pointed  that  they  pass  into 
the  form  of  a  prophecy,  which  was  most  strikingly  and 
awfully  fulfilled  in  the  subsequent  history.  His  ordi- 
nances concerning  the  feast  showed  what  was  in  His 
heart  for  His  people.  His  warnings  show  that  He  knew 
what  was  in  their  hearts  towards  Him.  He  prepared 
joy  and  rejoicing  for  them.  They  wrought  woe  and  de- 
solation for  themselves.  But  His  mercy  endureth  for 
ever :  "  And  yet  for  all  that,  when  they  be  in  the  land 
of  their  enemies,  I  will  not  cast  them  away,  neither  will 
I  abhor  them,  to  destroy  them  utterly,  and  to  break  My 
covenant  with  them  :  for  I  am  the  Lord  their  God.  But 
I  will  for  their  sakes  remember  the  covenant  of  their 
ancestors,  whom  I  brought  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  that  I  might  be  their  God  : 
I  am  the  Lord"  (ver.  44,  45). 

The  last  chapter  of  the  book  is  taken  up  with  direc- 
tions for  individual  worship,  on  the  details  of  which  we 
cannot  enter  ;  but  this  general  thought  is  suggested,  that 
though  the  nation  as  a  whole  may  lose  its  covenant 
standing,  the  way  is  always  open  for  individuals.  There 
is  much  comfort  in  this  thought,  in  view  of  such  dark 
times  as  those   to   which   the   prophetical   part   of    the 


Sacred  Times.  243 

preceding  chapter  points.  The  door  of  mercy  is  never 
shut,  however  dark  and  degenerate  the  times  may  be. 
However  wickedness  may  abound  in  the  world,  and 
coldness  and  deadness  in  the  Church,  God  will  always 
have  His  witnesses,  and  they  will  always  have  their  op- 
portunities. This  word  is  never  changed,  "  Whosoever 
will,  let  him  come."  In  all  times  religion  in  the  last 
resort  must  be  an  individual  matter  between  the  soul 
and  God.  No  man  can  be  saved  in  a  crowd  ;  but  neither 
can  any  man  be  lost  in  a  crowd.  And  sometimes,  when 
the  great  multitude  seems  to  carry  all  before  it,  God  still 
may  have  His  seven  thousand  men,  known  to  Him  alone, 
who  have  brought  their  individual  offerings  to  Him,  and 
"  never  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal." 

Remember  the  comfort  that  was  given  to  Daniel, 
when  his  spirit  was  ready  to  faint  in  the  prospect  of  the 
dark  days  which  the  prophetic  vision  had  disclosed. 
"  Go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be ;  for  thou  shalt  rest 
and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the  days."  "  Go  thou 
thy  way" — in  times  of  apostasy  and  darkness,  it  is  for 
the  individual  believer  to  leave  the  destinies  of  the 
world  and  of  the  Church  in  the  hands  of  Him  who  "  do- 
eth  all  things  well,"  and  seek  only  to  be  faithful  to  his 
own  duty.  As  for  others :  ''  shall  not  the  Judge  of  all 
the  earth  do  right?"  And  as  for  thee:  ''thou  shalt 
rest  " — there  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  Sabbath  and  all  the 
Sabbatic  series — "  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of  the 
days" — there  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  Jubilee  and  all  the 
eighth  day  series. 

Amid  all  the  secularities  and  unbelief  and  disobedience 
of  the  times,  let  us  seek  to   maintain  communion   with 


244  The  Mosaic  Era. 

God,  and  bring  our  individual  offerings,  however  "  sin- 
gular "  they  be,  and  we  shall  certainly  find  that  "  the 
joy  of  the  Lord  is  our  strength,"  and  that  His  thoughts 
of  love  expressed  in  the  feasts  of  the  old  covenant  will 
be  fulfilled  for  us, — and  then  at  the  end  of  the  days  we 
shall  enter  on  our  Sabbath  of  rest,  and  our  Jubilee  of 
joy  eternal. 


XV. 

T  H  E    C  A  M  p. 

NUMBERS   I.-VI. 

THE  Book  of  Numbers,  on  which  we  now  enter,  is 
the  last  of  what  are  known  as  ''  the  middle  books  " 
or  the  Pentateuch.  The  term  is  appropriate,  not  simply 
because  the  three  books  to  which  it  is  applied  occupy 
numerically  the  middle  of  the  entire  volume  of  "  the 
law,"  but  because  they  stand  together  in  a  closer  organic 
relation,  so  that  the  three  may  be  regarded  as  a  unity, 
having  a  common  relation  to  Genesis  on  the  one  side 
and  to  Deuteronomy  on  the  other. 

Genesis  may,  as  we  have  seen,-^  be  regarded  as  the 
foreground  of  the  entire  Bible,  and  as  such  its  founda- 
tion  is  l5roader  than  would  have  been  necessary  for  the 
Pentateuch  alone  ;  but  it  has  also  its  specific  relations  to 
the  books  which  more  immediately  follow.  In  Genesis 
we  have  the  soil,  and  the  seed  which  was  planted  in  it. 
In  the  Middle  Books  we  have  the  plant  of  grace,  devel- 
oping into  the  tree  of  righteousness.  In  Deuteronomy 
we  have  directions  for  gathering  the  fruit  which  might 
be  reasonably  expected  to  grow  on  so  "  noble  "  a  tree.f 


*  See  "  Ages  before  Moses,"  Lect.  XII. 
t  See  Jeremiah  ii.  21. 


(245) 


246  The  Mosaic  Era. 

These  relations  will  appear  more  clearly  when  we  reach 
the  last  book.  Meantime  let  us  look  somewhat  care- 
fully into  the  relations  of  the  three  middle  books. 

The  foundation  of  all  is  laid  in  the  Exodus  proper, 
which  may  be  considered  as  ending  when  the  children 
of  Israel  arrived  at  the  base  of  Sinai.  The  great  sepa- 
ration was  then  complete,  as  is  indicated  in  the  opening 
words  of  the  Sinai  record :  '■'■  Israel  camped  before  the 
Mount,  and  Moses  went  up  unto  God,  and  the  Lord 
called  unto  him  out  of  the  mountain,  saying.  Thus 
shalt  thou  say  to  the  house  of  Jacob  and  tell  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  :  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the 
Egyptians,  and  how  I  bare  yoii  on  eagle's  wings,  and 
brought  you  2t7ito  Myself''  The  remaining  part  of  the 
book  of  Exodus  (xx.-xl.)  is  of  an  entirely  different  char- 
acter. It  consists  of  a  series  of  revelations  given  from 
the  top  of  Mount  Sinai,  culminating,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  the  Tabernacle,  with  the  erection  and  furnishing  and 
dedication  of  which  the  book  closes.  The  character  of 
this  second  portion  of  the  book  of  Exodus  is  propjietical, 
not  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word,  as  predictive,  but 
in  the  Bible  sense,  as  revealing  the  Divine  will.  As  in 
Exodus  we  have  the  prophetical,  so  in  Leviticus  we 
have  the  Priestly  law ;  and  the  question  is  naturally 
suggested :  Is  there  any  reason  to  connect  the  Kingly 
idea  with  the  book  of  Numbers?  It  may  not  appear  at 
first  sight ;  but  a  little  consideration  will  make  it  very 
plain.  If  you  read  through  the  first  chapter,  you  wil' 
find  that  the  pervading  thought  of  it  is  going  forth  to 
war :  "  Take  ye  the  sum  of  all  the  congregation  of 
Israel  ....  from    twenty  years  old    and    upward,   all 


The  Camp.  247 

that  are  able  to  go  forth  to  zvar  in  Israel :  thou  and 
Aaron  shall  number  them  by  their  armies'''  {i,  2,  3). 
The  same  is  emphatically  repeated  thirteen  times  over, 
once  for  each  of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  once  again  for 
the  whole  of  Israel  (ver.  45).  And  then,  at  the  close  of 
the  chapter,  there  are  these  significant  words  :  "  And 
the  children  of  Israel  shall  pitch  their  tents,  every  man 
by  his  own  camp,  and  every  man  by  his  own  standard, 
throughout  their  hosts''  Here  we  have  the  key  to  the 
book.  The  armies  of  the  Lord  are  setting  forth  to 
war,  to  subdue  the  land  of  promise  for  God  and  for 
His  people. 

Reverting  to  that  summary  of  the  Mosaic  economy 
already  referred  to,  that  preliminary  sketch  of  the  dis- 
pensation which  was  given  to  the  people  immediately 
on  their  arrival  at  Mount  Sinai,  we  find  it  in  substance 
this:  "  If  ye  v/ill  obey  My  voice  indeed,  and  keep  my 
covenant  ....  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of 
priests  and  a  holy  nation  (Exod.  xix.  5,  6).  The  ^^  voice'' 
and  the  ^^ covenant"  we  have  in  Exodus.  In  Leviticus 
the  priestly  privileges  of  the  people  are  set  forth ;  in 
Numbers  the  armies  of  the  king  are  mustered  and  sent 
forth  to  establish  a  kingdom,  the  kingdom  of  the  holy 
nation.  In  Exodus  we  have  a  series  of  revelations 
from  "  the  Holy  Mount  "  ;  in  Leviticus  we  have  a  series 
from  the  Holy  Place  ;  in  Numbers  we  have  the  cove- 
nanted hosts,  the  priestly  armies  of  the  Lord,  setting 
out  to  establish  His  kingdom  in  the  Holy  Land.  In 
Exodus  the  Lord  comes  down  and  speaks  to  the  people 
from  the  mountain  top ;  in  Leviticus  the  people  meet 
with  God   in    His  sanctuary  in  the  plain ;  in  Numbers 


248  The  Mosaic  Era. 

they  are  called  to  service  for  Him  in  the  field.  In  Exo- 
dus the  people  look  up  and  listen  to  the  voice  of  God  ; 
in  Leviticus  they  draw  near,  and  as  it  were  behold  His 
face  ;  in  Numbers  they  go  forth  in  His  name  to  do  His 
will.  In  Exodus  the  relation  is  that  of  a  father  in 
heaven,  and  his  children  on  earth ;  in  Leviticus  it  is  that 
of  sinners  and  their  Saviour  God,  who  tabernacles  with 
them  here  below  ;  in  Numbers  it  is  that  of  soldiers  of 
the  Cross  going  forth  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  to  do 
battle  for  the  Lord.  In  Exodus  the  people  are  called 
to  obedience;  in  Leviticus,  to  worship;  and  in  Num- 
bers, to  service  in  the  field. 

So  much  for  the  relations  of  the  three  books.  Let 
us  now  look  more  particularly  at  the  book  before  us. 
And  here  it  is  very  important  to  keep  in  mind  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  ideal  and  the  actual.  Numbers  is 
often  spoken  of  as  a  book  of  the  wilderness  and  of  wil- 
derness service.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  much 
of  the  wilderness  in  it.  But  why  ?  Because  the  people 
failed  of  their  high  calling.  The  idea  of  the  book  is  not 
that  of  wilderness  wandering.  It  is  that  of  the  hosts  of 
the  Lord  marching  to  conquest.  This  is  the  Divine  idea. 
As  we  proceed  we  shall  see  how  the  people  failed  and 
fell  short,  and,  ceasing  to  be  the  Lord's  hosts,  became 
poor  wanderers  in  the  wilderness.  But  we  shall  be  very 
far  astray  if  we  set  out  with  that  as  the  proper  idea  of 
the  book. 

Remembering,  then,  that  the  idea  of  Numbers  is  the 
marshalling  of  the  Lord's  hosts,  and  their  victorious 
march  to  Canaan,  it  is  appropriate  to  ask  whether  here, 
as   well    as    in    Exodus    and    Leviticus,  we    have   any 


The  Camp.  249 

"  shadow  of  good  things  to  come  "  ?  Undoubtedly  we 
have.  Surely  there  is  something  more  and  better  here 
than  the  story  of  an  old  war.  Surely  there  is  an  inter- 
est beyond  the  merely  historical.  What  then  is  it  ? 
What  is  the  service  which  corresponds  now,  to  that  for 
which  the  hosts  of  the  Lord  were  marshalled  at  the 
base  of  Sinai?  It  is  the  Missionary  service,  the  service 
to  which  the  hosts  of  the  Lord  are  called  under  the  new 
covenant.  There  are  indeed  in  this  most  interestine 
and  instructive  book  very  many  exceedingly  valuable 
lessons  for  the  individual  believer ;  but  the  great  value 
of  the  book,  its  application  as  a  whole,  is  its  instruction 
and  inspiration  for  the  great  work  to  which  the  Church 
of  the  New  Testament  is  called :  the  conquest  of  the 
world  for  Christ. 

When  the  times  of  Israel  were  over,  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  came  in.  All  nations  took  the  place  and  inher- 
ited the  privileges  of  the  one  nation.  And  all  lands 
were  included  in  the  covenant,  as  the  rightful  possession 
of  the  Lord  and  His  people :  "  Ask  of  Me,  and  I  will 
give  thee  " — the  land  of  Canaan  ?  No — ''  the  heathen  for 
thine  inheritance,  and  the  tittermost  parts  of  the  earth 
for  thy  possession."  Just  as  the  privileges  of  the  nar- 
row Israel  of  the  old  covenant  have  become  the  privi- 
leges of  the  wide  Israel  of  the  new,  the  whole  ''  Israel  of 
God  "  ;  so  the  duty  of  the  little  Israel  to  subdue  the 
little  land  of  Canaan  has  been  translated  now  into  the 
duty  of  the  great  Israel  to  subdue  the  wide  world,  mak- 
ing all  its  kingdoms  ''  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of 
His  Christ."  And  just  as  the  natural  Israel  was  called 
to  subdue  its  land   in   a   quite  natural  manner,  viz.,  by 


250  The  Mosaic  Era. 

carnal  weapons  of  warfare,  the  sword  and  the  spear; 
so  the  spiritual  Israel  on  the  other  hand,  is  called  to 
subdue  the  world  with  spiritual  weapons,  "  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit  which  is  the  Word  of  God,"  in  fulfilment  of  the 
great  commission  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  "  The  conquest  of  Canaan 
by  the  sword  was  intended  to  be  a  type  of  the  conquest 
of  the  world  by  the  Word.  Has  it  not  been  a  loss  to 
the  Church  that  this  thought  has  been  so  much  obscured 
by  the  almost  invariable  use  of  Canaan  as  a  type  of 
Heaven?  This  maybe  justified  to  a  certain  extent,  but 
when  it  is  claimed  as  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  we  cannot 
but  raise  such  questions  as  these :  If  Canaan  be  a  type 
of  Heaven,  who  are  the  Canaanites  in  Heaven?  Where 
are  the  Hittites  ?  And  what  is  the  slaughter  to  be  ?  The 
Jordan  is  a  favourite,  and  not  inappropriate,  type  of 
death ;  and  inasmuch  as  Canaan  lay  beyond  the  Jordan, 
Heaven  is  naturally  suggested  ;  but  to  make  this  slight 
analog>^  the  ground  of  our  exegesis,  is  to  lose  the  main 
purpose  both  of  Numbers  and  of  Joshua.  The  intention 
of  the  book  before  us  is  not  to  set  us  looking  upward 
and  forward  to  the  heavenly  rest,  but  to  nerve  us  for  the 
great  enterprise  in  which  we  are  engaged,  the  great  war- 
fare to  which  we  are  called.  The  grand  thing  we  have 
to  set  before  us  is  the  subjugation  of  the  world  for 
Christ ;  and  after  we  have  done  what  we  can  in  that 
great  warfare,  then  it  will  be  time  for  us  to  think  of  our 
rest. 

By  keeping  this  in  mind  much  light  is  thrown  upon 
passages  in  this  book  which  would  be  otherwise  inexpli- 
cable.    Let  me  refer  to  one  in  particular,  that  remark- 


The  Camp.  251 

able  passage  in  the  fourteenth  chapter,  where,  after  the 
people  have  turned  away  from  the  conquest  to  which 
the  Lord  was  leading  them,  being  discouraged  by  the 
report  of  the  spies,  and  *'  demoralized  "  by  unbelief  and 
resulting  cowardice,  and  after  Moses  has  interceded  on 
their  behalf,  "  the  Lord  said,  I  have  pardoned  according 
to  thy  word,  but  as  truly  as  I  live,  all  the  earth  shall  be 
filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord''  (xiv.  21).  Now,  what 
connection  have  these  remarkable  words  with  the  case  ? 
Some  interpreters  do  not  attempt  to  show  any  connec- 
tion. Others  signally  fail  in  making  the  attempt.  And 
there  can  be  nothing  but  failure  so  long  as  the  relation 
between  the  conquest  of  Canaan  and  the  filling  of  all 
the  earth  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  not  recognized. 
But  as  soon  as  it  is  recognized,  how  natural  and  how 
striking  is  the  Divine  declaration.  The  failure  of  the 
people  seemed  to  carry  with  it  the  failure  of  the  Divine 
purpose.  But  no.  Though  this  generation  had  refused 
to  go  and  possess  the  land,  another  generation  would  be 
found  to  do  it  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  that  other  and 
much  greater  "  far-off  Divine  event,  to  which  the  whole 
creation  moves,"  and  of  which  the  occupancy  of  Canaan 
was  a  type,  would  as  certainly  come  to  pass  in  Its  time; 
*'  as  truly  as  I  live,  all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the 
glory  of  the  Lord." 

In  the  first  chapter  there  is  the  numbering  according 
to  their  pedigrees,  and  in  the  second  chapter  the  mar- 
shalling according  to  their  standards,  of  the  hosts  of 
Israel.  The  appropriateness  of  this  is  so  obvious  that 
we  need  not  dwell  on  it.  But  what  are  we  to  make  of 
the  third  and  fourth  chapters  ?     They  are  fully  taken  up 


252  The  Mosaic  Era. 

with  priestly  and  Levitical  arrangements.  Are  we  back 
again  in  the  book  of  Leviticus  ?  Or  is  there  any  confu- 
sion in  the  book  before  us  ?  By  no  means.  A  Httle 
thought  will  make  it  very  plain. 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  when  a  book  is  closed,  the 
subject  is  over  and  done  with.  On  the  contrary,  what- 
ever has  been  gained  is  carried  on  as  a  stored  acquisition 
into  the  next  stage  of  the  history.  The  voice  of  God 
upon  Mount  Sinai  ceased  to  speak  after  the  revelation 
of  Exodus  was  closed,  but  the  substance  of  what  He 
had  spoken  was  embodied  in  the  Tabernacle,  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  the  foundation  of  all  that  is  contained 
in  the  book  of  Leviticus.  In  the  same  way  the  voice  of 
God  from  the  Tabernacle  was  no  longer  heard  after  the 
Levitical  ordinances  were  completed,  but  the  substance 
of  it  was  embodied  in  the  organized  priesthood  and  the 
Levitical  services,  which  went  on.  And  just  as  certainly 
as  without  the  Tabernacle  of  Exodus  there  would  have 
been  no  Leviticus,  so  certainly  without  the  Levitical 
ordinances  there  would  have  been  no  properly  organ- 
ized Host  of  the  Lord.  An  ordinary  army  of  so  many 
thousands  strong  there  might  have  been  ;  but  It  would 
not  have  been  the  Lord's  army.  The  sacred  character 
and  Divine  relations  of  the  host  must  be  maintained 
and  conspicuously  manifest.  Hence  the  Importance  at- 
tached to  the  Levitical  and  priestly  arrangements  In  the 
order  of  encampment  (chap.  III.)  and  of  march  (chap.  Iv.) 

From  this  point  of  view  it  is  exceedingly  instructive 
to  take  a  survey  of  the  camp  of  Israel.  In  the  centre  of 
all  was  the  Tabernacle.  Ranged  around  it  were  the 
tents  of  the  people  in  two  squares,  a  small  Inner  and  a 


The  Camp.  253 

large  outer  square.  The  inner  square  was  formed  of 
the  tents  of  the  Levites,  the  families  of  Kohath  on  the 
south,  of  Gershon  on  the  west,  of  Merari  on  the  north, 
while  Moses,  Aaron,  and  the  priests  were  stationed  at 
the  east,  at  the  door  of  the  Tabernacle.  The  outer 
square  consisted  of  the  tents  of  the  warriors  of  the 
different  tribes,  three  tribes  on  each  of  the  four  sides. 
The  Tabernacle  in  the  centre — there  is  the  embodiment 
of  the  Sinai  revelation  in  Exodus.  The  inner  square  of 
the  priests  and  Levites— there  is  Leviticus.  The  outer 
square — there  is  the  host  of  the  Lord,  whose  setting 
forth  to  war  is  the  subject  of  the  book  of  Numbers.  It 
is  noteworthy  in  addition,  that  the  Levites  in  this  book 
are  reckoned  amongst  the  warriors,  as  will  be  seen  by  a 
reference  to  the  margin,  which  is  the  literal  translation 
of  iv.  23,  30,  and  viii.  24,  25,  where  the  service  of  the 
Levites  is  spoken  of  as  the  warfare  which  they  had  to 
war.  True,  they  were  not  to  be  engaged  in  actual  fight- 
ing, but  the  people  were  not  allowed  to  forget  that  the 
worship  in  the  sanctuary  was  quite  as  essential  as  actual 
service  in  the  field  to  the  success  of  the  armies  of  Israel. 
They  were  never  allowed  to  imagine  that  it  was  a  mere 
matter  of  fighting,  dependent  on  the  number  and  effect- 
iveness of  the  troops.  Everything  depended  on  the 
sacred  character  of  the  host,  and  that  character  was 
maintained  by  the  inner  square  of  the  Levites  and  their 
ministry  in  the  sacred  enclosure.  Just  as  Moses,  with 
Aaron  and  Hur  beside  him  to  stay  up  his  hand,  was  a 
most  essential  part  of  the  host  that  defeated  Amalek 
at  Rephidim  (Exod.  xvii.  11,  12),  so  the  priests,  with  the 
Levites  who  stayed  up  their  hands,  were  a  most  essen- 


254  The  Mosaic  Era. 

tial  part  of  the  host  who  went  forth  to  subdue  the  land 
of  promise  (see  also  Num.  iv.  3).  In  the  same  way  the 
prayers  of  the  Church  at  home  are  essential  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  soldiers  of  the  Cross  in  the  distant  field. 
While  then  there  is  a  certain  propriety  in  speaking  of 
the  camp  as  consisting  of  "  a  nation  of  warriors,  a  tribe 
of  workers,  and  a  family  of  worshippers,"  it  is  a  much 
more  important  truth  to  remember  that  the  entire  camp 
was  one,  that  the  twelve  tribes  were  expected  to  be 
workers  and  worshippers  as  well  as  warriors,  and  that 
the  tribe  of  Levi  and  even  the  family  of  Aaron  had  a 
right  to  be  considered  amongst  the  warriors  as  well  as 
those  who  formed  the  outer  square  in  the  camp,  and  did 
the  actual  fighting  in  the  field. 

The  necessity  of  preserving  the  special  sacredness  of 
the  camp  is  the  thought  which  runs  through  the  fifth 
chapter.  The  general  principle  is  laid  down  in  the  be- 
ginning of  it,  that  the  camp  of  Israel  must  be  kept  pure 
from  all  defilement :  and  the  special  case  which  follows, 
and  which  was  probably  an  emergent  case,  may  be  re- 
garded as  illustrating  the  principle. 

In  the  sixth  chapter,  on  the  other  hand,  provision 
is  made  for  cases  of  special  consecration.  The  entire 
camp  must  be  a  consecrated  camp  ;  the  entire  army  a 
consecrated  army  ;  but,  while  purity  and  consecration 
are  needed  for  all  the  duties  which  appertain  to  the 
Christian  warfare  and  service,  there  are  occasions  when 
service  of  peculiar  difficulty,  and  calling  for  special 
qualifications,  is  required  ;  and  it  is  to  provide  for  such 
emergencies  that  the  law  of  the  Nazarite  is  promulgated. 
The  ordinary  service  has  already  been  provided  for  in 


The  Camp.  255 

its  two  great  departments  :  in  the  field,  by  the  warrior 
host  (chaps,  i.,  ii.)  with  their  princes  over  them  (i.  5-16) ; 
and  in  the  sanctuary,  by  the  band  of  Levites  with  the 
priests  of  the  family  of  Aaron  over  them  (iii.,  iv.)  But 
for  extraordinary  service  the  special  consecration  of  the 
Nazarite  (vi.)  is  called  into  requisition. 

The  regulations  for  the  camp  are  most  appropriately 
and  beautifully  closed  with  the  priestly  benediction,  pro- 
nounced by  Aaron  and  his  sons  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
of  hosts  :  "  The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee  :  the 
Lord  make  His  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious 
unto  thee  :  the  Lord  lift  up  His  countenance  upon  thee, 
and  give  thee  peace."  The  threefold  blessing  is  in  beau- 
tiful harmony  with  the  three  leading  thoughts  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  find  expression  in  the  three  books  of 
Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers,  and  were  moreover 
embodied  in  the  camp  of  Israel  with  its  three  divisions : 
the  Tabernacle  in  the  centre,  the  inner  square  of  priests 
and  Levites,  and  the  outer  square  of  warriors.  There 
is  first  the  Fatherly  protecting  care,  as  of  Him  who 
came  down  upon  Mount  Sinai  and  made  a  covenant 
with  His  people  there  :  ^'  The  Lord  bless  thee  and 
keep  thee."  Then  there  is  the  closer  access  which  was 
provided  for  in  the  Levitical  ordinances,  implied  in  the 
next  benediction  :  "  The  Lord  make  Wis  face  shine  upon 
thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee."  And  lastly,  there  is 
the  countenance  which  is  given  to  the  great  enterprise 
in  which  they  were  engaged,  a  warlike  enterprise  indeed, 
but  one  waged  for  the  sake  of  the  true  and  lasting  peace 
which  should  be  the  ultimate  result:  "The  Lord  lift  up 
His  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  ih^Q peace,'^ 


256  The  Mosaic  Era. 

We  do  think  that  it  is  pressing  the  threefold  blessing 
too  far  to  see  in  it  an  intentional  and  express  foreshadow- 
ing of  the  doctrine  of  "the  Trinity";  but  just  as  the 
successive  revelations  which  God  gave  His  people  on 
Sinai,  from  the  Tabernacle,  and  for  the  March,  corre- 
spond to  some  extent  with  His  revelation  of  Himself  in 
redemption  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  ;  so  does 
the  threefold  blessing,  following  the  same  line  of 
thought,  conform  itself  to  the  thoughts  of  blessing 
which  are  specially  appropriate  to  our  Redeemer  God 
in  the  Trinity  of  relations  in  which  it  has  pleased  Him 
to  reveal  Himself  to  man.  ''  The  Lord  bless  thee,  and 
keep  thee," — is  not  that  the  Fatherly  idea  ?  ''  The  Lord 
make  His  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto 
thee," — does  not  this  lead  us  to  think  of  "  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,"  and  of  ''  the  gracious 
words  that  proceeded  out  of  His  mouth  "  ?  "  The  Lord 
lift  up  His  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace," 
— does  not  this  remind  us  of  the  special  mission  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter,  to  bring  peace  to  the 
troubled  soul  ? 

But  whatever  we  may  say  of  the  Trinity,  the  Unity  is 
very  clearly  marked  :  "  And  thou  shalt  put  3fy  Name 
upon  the  children  of  Israel  ;  and  /  will  bless  them." 
The  unity  of  the  camp  also  is  strikingly  signified  in 
this.^  In  the  chapters  which  precede  we  have  been 
reading  of  different  houses,  different  pedigrees,  different 
standards ;  different  ranks  and  different  orders ;  different 
positions  and  different  duties  ;   different  degrees  of  con- 


*  So  also  in  the  use  of  the  pronoun  thee  in  the  benediction. 


The  Camp.  257 

secration  even  ;  but  now  all  the  differences  disappear, 
all  sectional  names  pass  out  of  view ;  and  the  name  of 
Jehovah  is  all  and  upon  all.  "  They  shall  put  My  name 
upon  them  " — upon  Reuben  and  Simeon  and  Levi  and 
Judah  ;  upon  Kohath  and  Gershon  and  Merari ;  upon 
priests  and  Levites  ;  upon  worker  and  warrior  and  wor- 
shipper ;  upon  each  of  them,  and  all  of  them,  they  shall 
put  My  Name  ;  "  and  I  will  bless  them."  And  in  the 
same  way  we  may  have  our  different  names  and  different 
standards,  and  yet  all  belong  to  the  same  great  army. 
Those  only  who  refuse  to  acknowledge  their  brethren  of 
other  denominations  mar  the  unity  of  the  Church  and 
are  guilty  of  schism.  A  Reubenite  did  not  need  to 
renounce  the  tribal  name  of  Reuben,  nor  a  Kohathite 
his  family  name  of  Kohath,  to  justify  his  position  in  the 
army  on  which  the  One  Name  of  the  Lord  was  placed  : 
and  in  the  same  way  we  do  not  need  to  surrender  our 
distinctive  names,  indicative  of  differences  of  little  mo- 
ment, so  long  as  we  all  gather  round  the  Tabernacle  of 
the  Lord,  worshipping  Him  as  He  has  revealed  Himself 
in  Jesus  Christ  and  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  and  glorying 
above  all,  far  above  all  party  or  tribal  designations  in  that 
One  "  Name  which  is  above  every  name," — JEHOVAH 
Jesus. 


XVI. 

THE    MARCH. 

NUMBERS  VII.-XIV. 

NOW  that  the  camp  has  been  carefully  ordered  and 
the  blessing  of  the  Lord  pronounced  upon  it,  it  is 
time  to  think  of  setting  out  on  the  great  expedition. 
The  next  great  subject,  then,  which  engages  our  atten- 
tion in  the  book  of  the  armies  of  the  Lord,  is  the  prepa- 
ration for  the  march.  The  account  of  it  is  given  in 
chapters  vii.-x.  lo. 

First,  there  is  a  series  of  offerings.  Even  on  this 
sacred  expedition  "the  sinews  of  war"  cannot  be  dis- 
pensed with.  Before  the  march  begins  there  must  be, 
not  a  levy,  no  tax,  but  a  freewill  offering — not,  however, 
as  we  shall  see  directly,  for  the  expenses  of  the  campaign, 
but  for  the  Lord's  house  and  worship.  The  idea  seems 
to  be  that  the  people  of  their  own  free  will  should  give 
for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  while  He  of  His  ex- 
haustless  resources  will  take  care  of  the  service  in  the 
field.  Is  it  not  the  same  still?  He  does  not  send  His 
people  a  warfare  on  their  own  charges.  He  first  gives 
us  the  privilege  of  bringing  an  offering  to  Him.  And 
then,  whether  our  offering  be  great  or  small,  if  only  it 
(-5S) 


The  March.  259 

be  according  to  our  ability,  He  on  His  part  guarantees 
all  needful  provision  for  us.  "  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes 
intt)  the  storehouse,  that  there  may  be  meat  vi  mine 
houscj  and  prove  Me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven 
and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that  there  shall  not  be  room 
enough  to  receive  it." 

The  offerings  of  the  princes  are  recorded  in  the  seventh 
chapter.  The  people  of  God  are  expected  to  give  in  pro- 
portion to  their  ability ;  and  accordingly  the  princes  of 
Israel  set  the  example.  There  is  first  a  general  contri- 
bution (ver.  3-9) ;  and  then  a  separate  contribution  from 
each  (ver.  12-89).  The  remarkable  thing  about  this  rec- 
ord is,  that  though  each  prince  gave  precisely  the  same, 
all  the  details  are  repeated  for  each  one,  so  that  there  ap- 
pears at  first  sight  to  be  a  very  needless  waste  of  words. 
Why  was  not  this  immense  chapter  of  89  verses  put,  as 
it  well  might  have  been,  in  a  few  lines?  But  think  a 
little,  and  you  will  not  consider  even  this  a  vain  repe- 
tition. In  the  first  place,  great  importance  was  attached 
to  these  acts  of  worship,  for  acts  of  worship  they  were 
considered  to  be,  as  is  evident  from  verse  84.  This  is 
manifest  from  the  spreading  of  the  presentation  over 
twelve  days,  each  prince  bringing  his  offering  on  a  sepa- 
rate day.  The  very  same  reason  which  made  it  desirable 
that  the  separate  gifts  should  be  brought  on  separate 
days,  made  it  proper  that  the  record  of  them  should  be 
kept  separate,  and  brought  as  near  in  impressiveness  as 
possible  to  the  original  ceremony.  And  then,  is  there 
not  this  encouraging  lesson  to  be  learned  from  it,  that  it 
is  not  so  much  the  gift  as  the  giver  that  the  Lord  has  in 


26o  The  Mosaic  Era. 

view  ?  What  though  the  gift  be  the  same,  the  giver  is 
different ;  and  therefore  let  him  by  all  means  have  his 
place  in  the  Divine  notice  and  remembrance,  exactly  as 
if  he  had  been  the  only  man  that  brought  it.  Our  gifts, 
however  small,  are  never  lost  in  the  multitude  of  offer- 
ings. The  Lord  notices  each  one,  and  He  rates  it  at  its 
proper  value,  not  according  to  its  intrinsic  worth,  but  ac- 
cording to  the  evidence  it  furnishes  of  the  love  and  de- 
votion of  the  giver. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  we  have  in  this  record  a 
very  obvious  indication  of  contemporaneousness  with  the 
event.  No  later  writer  would  have  thought  of  making 
such  entries  as  these. 

The  offering  of  the  people  is  recorded  in  the  eighth 
chapter.  But  is  not  that  chapter  all  about  priests  and 
Levites,  priests  lighting  the  lamps  (ver.  1-4),  and  then 
consecrating  the  Levites  (ver.  5-26)  ?  True ;  but  did 
not  the  tribe  of  Levi  represent  the  firstborn  (iii.  40-51)? 
And  were  not  the  firstborn  the  people's  offering  to  the 
Lord?  So  accordingly  we  find  it  in  the  record  :  ''Thou 
shalt  set  the  Levites  before  Aaron  and  before  his  sons, 
and  offer  them  for  an  offering  nnto  the  Lord''  fviii.  15"). 
And  the  same  view  of  the  ceremony  is  again  presented, 
along  with  the  explanation  concerning  the  firstborn 
whose  place  they  took,  in  verses  15-18.  It  will  be  re- 
membered, of  course,  that  there  was  not  only  a  surrender 
of  the  whole  tribe  of  Levi  from  the  number  of  the  field 
force,  but  there  was  also  the  assumption  of  all  those 
charges  which  were  necessaiy  to  maintain  the  entire 
tribe,  so  that  they  might  be  free  to  do  the  service  of  the 
Lord  in  the  sanctuary.     It  was  then  an  offering,  not  of 


The  March.  261 

men  only,  but  of  means,  and  as  such  fitly  follows  the 
offerings  of  the  princes. 

After  the  presentation  of  the  offerings  comes  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Passover  (ix.)  The  Passover,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  the  starting  point  of  Israel's  national 
history.  It  must  also  be  the  starting  point  of  their 
march  to  the  land  of  promise.  What  the  cross  of  Christ 
is  in  the  New  Testament,  the  Passover  was  in  the  Old. 
It  was  the  most  concentrated  expression  of  the  Divine 
love,  and  as  such  supplied  the  strongest  impulse  to  cour- 
age and  faithfulness  in  the  service  of  the  Lord.  Hence 
the  importance  of  the  Passover  observance  before  setting 
out  on  their  arduous  expedition. 

The  great  majority  of  the  people  had  already  kept  the 
Passover  on  the  regular  day  (ver.  5) ;  and  that  was  con- 
sidered near  enough  to  the  time  of  setting  out,  which 
was  only  a  month  later.  But  there  were  some  who,  on 
account  of  disqualification,  had  not  been  able  to  join 
with  the  rest  in  that  celebration  ;  and  it  was  for  them 
that  a  special  Passover  service  on  the  fourteenth  day  of 
the  second  month  was  appointed.  And  not  only  was 
this  special  appointment  made,  but  a  general  rule  was 
adopted  in  future  for  the  benefit  of  those  who,  for  no 
fault  of  their  own,  had  been  deprived  of  the  privilege  at 
the  appointed  season.  All  this  goes  to  show  the  great 
importance  which  was  attached  to  this  observance,  es- 
pecially as  a  preparation  for  arduous  duty  and  difficult 
service.  And  inasmuch  as  the  Lord's  Supper  has  come 
in  the  place  of  the  Passover,  may  we  not  learn  from  this 
how  thoughtless  and  sinful  it  is  to  make  so  little  of  the 
sacred  ordinance,  as  many  even  of  Christian  people  do. 


262  The  Mosaic  Era. 

And  now  that  all  had  given  to  the  Lord,  and  all  had 
partaken  of  the  Lord's  Passover,  it  remains  only  to  give 
the  signal  for  starting.  The  Divine  will  in  the  matter 
was  intimated  by  means  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  of 
fire.  No  step  was  to  be  taken  without  this  Divine  token. 
The  passage  in  which  this  is  set  forth  (ver.  15-23)  is  well 
worthy  of  earnest  consideration,  especially  as  teaching 
the  importance  of  implicit  and  unqualified  submission  to 
the  Divine  guidance.  It  was  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  the  Lord  they  abode  in  their  tents,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  they  journeyed. 
If  they  were  directed  to  rest  by  day,  they  did  it ;  if  they 
were  told  to  journey  by  night,  they  did  it.  However 
tired  of  travel,  if  the  word  was  to  set  out,  they  obeyed. 
However  weary  of  waiting,  if  the  word  was  to  stay  still, 
they  stayed.  "  Whether  it  were  two  days,  or  a  month, 
or  a  year,''  it  was  all  the  same.  If  only  we  would  allow 
ourselves  to  be  so  guided  by  the  Lord,  how  invincible 
should  we  be,  how  inestimable  the  value  of  our  service 
in  the  field.  If  only  Israel  had  followed  on  in  the  spirit 
in  which  they  evidently  began,  how  different  would  the 
history  of  the  book  of  Numbers  have  been. 

The  Divine  will,  as  indicated  by  the  pillar  of  cloud, 
was  made  known  to  the  host  by  the  blowing  of  two 
silver  trumpets  (x.  i-io)  by  "the  sons  of  Aaron,  the 
priests  "  (ver.  8).  These  trumpets  were  used,  not  only 
to  give  orders  for  the  march,  but  to  summon  the  people 
to  the  feasts,  and  for  other  important  purposes,  when  it 
was  necessary  that  the  mind  of  the  Lord  should  be  com- 
municated at  once  to  the  entire  congregation.  In  place 
of  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  we  have  the  Spirit  of  the 


The  March.  263 

Lord ;  in  place  of  the  trumpets,  we  have  the  Word  of 
the  Lord.  And  in  our  service  it  is  just  as  important 
that  we  should  be  ready  at  the  call  of  the  Spirit  given 
through  His  word,  as  it  was  that  the  hosts  of  Israel 
should  be  obedient  to  the  trumpet-call  in  the  desert. 

So  much  for  the  preparations  for  setting  out.  And 
now  the  trumpets  sound,  and  the  inarch  begins  "  on  the 
twentieth  day  of  the  second  month,  in  the  second  year  " 
(ver.  1 1),  counting  of  course  from  the  Exodus.  The  or- 
der of  the  march  is  given.  Judah  takes  the  lead ;  and 
the  prince  who  marched  at  the  head  of  the  leading  tribe 
was  Nahshon,  the  son  of  Amminadab,  ancestor  of  the 
Messiah  (Matt.  i.  4),  Who  is  our  Leader  as  we  advance 
to  the  conquest  of  the  world  (Matt,  xxviii.  20).  The 
priests  and  Levites  with  the  sacred  things  were  dis- 
tributed in  an  orderly  and  equal  manner  throughout  the 
host  as  they  marched  onward,  the  Ark  of  the  Lord  be- 
ing in  the  centre,  immediately  followed  by  the  tribes  of 
Ephraim,  Manasseh,  and  Benjamin,  which  explains  the 
allusion  in  Psalm  Ixxx.  2.  The  Ark,  however,  seems 
sometimes,  perhaps  only  at  the  first,  to  have  gone  in  ad- 
vance, ''  to  search  out  a  resting-place  for  them  "  (ver.  33). 

The  words  of  Moses,  when  the  Ark  set  forward  and 
when  it  rested,  are  in  full  keeping  with  what  we  have 
shown  to  be  the  idea  of  the  book,  as  that  not  of  a  jour- 
ney through  a  wilderness,  but  of  a  warlike  expedition, 
an  army  advancing  to  battle  and  to  victory.  When  it 
set  forward,  he  said,  "  Rise,  Lord,  and  let  Thine  enemies 
be  scattered ;  and  let  them  that  hate  Thee  flee  before 
Thee."  When  it  rested,  he  said,  "  Return,  O  Lord,  unto 
the  many  thousands  of  Israel."     Warfare  comes  first; 


264  The  Mosaic  Era. 

rest  follows.  Now  is  the  day  of  the  Church  militant ; 
but  the  day  of  the  Church  triumphant  shall  come,  when 
the  Lord  shall  return  to  the  "  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  and  thousands  of  thousands  "  of  the  true  "  Is- 
rael of  God." 

So  far  all  is  well  and  hopeful ;  but  no  sooner  has  the 
march  begun  than  it  becomes  apparent  that  the  children 
of  Israel  are  but  children  yet.  The  eventful  year  at 
Sinai  has  come  and  gone,  with  all  its  rich  and  wonderful 
experiences  and  its  blessed  revelations ;  but  after  all,  the 
people  are  much  the  same  as  they  were,  ere  they  camped 
before  the  mount.  The  wilderness  history  on  this  side 
Sinai  is  wonderfully  like  the  history  of  the  wilderness 
on  the  other  side. 

For  this  reason  I  do  not  intend  to  dwell  on  the  chap- 
ters which  follow.  They  are  very  rich,  and  full  of  valu- 
able instruction  in  their  details,  much  of  it  such  as  can 
be  obtained  from  no  other  part  of  Scripture  so  impres- 
sively. But  as  our  plan  restricts  us  to  the  broad  general 
features,  which  are  much  the  same  as  those  we  had  in 
the  lecture  on  the  wilderness,  we  propose  now  to  pass 
them  by  with  the  briefest  notice. 

Some  think  that  the  first  sign  of  unbelief  appeared  in 
the  asking  of  Hobab  to  go  wdth  them,  that  he  might  be 
to  them  instead  of  eyes  (x.  31),  as  if  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord  were  not  sufficient.  We  are  not  disposed,  how- 
ever, to  see  anything  wrong  in  this,  not  only  because  it 
is  Moses  himself  who  makes  the  request  of  Hobab,  but 
also  because  we  are  again  and  again  taught  that  depend- 
ence on  the  Divine  direction  does  not  supersede  the 
use  of  natural  means. 


The  March.  265 

But  from  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  chapter  on- 
wards, we  have  a  series  of  murmurings  and  complain- 
ings and  consequent  judgments,  which  delayed  the  host 
on  its  march  and  disqualified  it  more  and  more  for  the 
great  enterprise  on  which  it  had  embarked.  There  was 
first  the  complaining  at  Taberah,  and  the  disastrous  fire 
which  marked  the  Lord's  displeasure  at  it.  Then  the 
lusting  at  a  place  which,  in  memory  of  the  scene  and  the 
terrible  judgment  which  followed,  was  afterwards  known 
as  Kibroth-hattaavah,  "the  graves  of  lust"  (chap,  ix.) 
The  sad  history  of  Miriam's  sedition,  supported  by 
Aaron  himself,  who  seems  to  have  been  weakly  led  by 
his  stronger  sister,  is  given  in  the  twelfth  chapter,  while 
in  the  thirteenth  we  have  the  sending  of  the  spies,  the 
discouraging  report  of  the  majority,  and  the  consequent 
unbelief  and  apostasy  of  almost  the  entire  congregation. 
This  last  manifestation  of  unbelief  and  disobedience 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis ;  and  the  long-deferred  sen- 
tence was  passed,  recalling  their  commission  as  the  hosts 
of  the  Lord,  dooming  them  to  a  weary  wandering  in  the 
wilderness,  and  postponing  till  the  next  generation  the 
entrance  of  the  children  of  Israel  into  the  promised  land. 

The  wanderings  of  the  rejected  generation  will  form 
the  subject  of  our  next  lecture.  Meantime,  let  us  look 
at  the  crowning  sin  which  sealed  the  fate  of  the  promis- 
ing army,  which  had  been  so  carefully  numbered  and 
marshalled  at  the  base  of  Sinai. 

It  was  the  sin  of  unbelief.  This  had  been  the  root  of 
all  their  evils.  Everything  had  been  done  that  could  be 
done  to  develop  their  faith ;  and  yet  when  the  great 
crisis  comes,  when  the  time  has  arrived  to  enter  the  land 


266  The  Mosaic  Era. 

which  the  Lord  has  promised  them,  and  which  they  are 
to  subdue  for  Him,  they  show  that  instead  of  being  "  a 
kingdom  of  priests,"  a  people  who  know  that  the  God 
who  made  heaven  and  earth  and  sea  is  their  God,  and 
therefore  nothing  can  withstand  them  when  they  ad- 
vance in  the  power  of  His  might,  they  have  not  the 
courage  even  to  make  the  feeblest  attempt.  ''  Let  us 
make  a  captain,"  they  said,  "  and  let  us  return  into 
Egypt "  (xvi.  4).  And  though  Joshua  and  Caleb  made 
a  noble  and  most  courageous  appeal  (ver.  6-9),  remind- 
ing them  that  with  the  Lord  upon  their  side  they  had 
no  cause  to  fear,  it  was  worse  than  lost  on  them  ;  for 
"  all  the  congregation  bade  stone  them  with  stones  " 
(ver.  10).  This  was  the  climax  of  their  unbelief.  They 
were  paralysed  with  fear  of  the  sons  of  Anak,  though 
the  Lord  was  with  them  ;  they  were  not  afraid  to  turn 
against  Joshua  and  Caleb,  though  they  must  have  known 
that  in  doing  so  they  were  resisting  God  Himself. 

It  seems  almost  incredible ;  and  yet  when  we  think  of 
it,  it  is  only  too  natural.  It  is  important  to  remember 
that  faith  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth.  It  cannot  be  sud- 
denly summoned  into  existence  on  a  special  emergency ; 
and  in  order  to  its  development  there  must  be  not  only 
"evidences"  presented  from  without,  but  a  discipline 
going  on  within.  We  are  apt  to  think  that  because  so 
many  deliverances  have  been  wrought  for  Israel,  there- 
fore their  faith  must  have  become  very  strong.  We 
forget  that  though  God  had  done  His  part  all  the  way 
through,  they  never  had  done  theirs.  Their  faith  was 
really  utterly  unexercised.  It  is  not  faith,  to  trust  in 
God  a//iT  Me  has  wrought  deliverance.      That  was  all 


The  March.  267 

they  did.  If  they  had  ever  learned  to  trust  Him  before 
the  deliverance  came,  it  would  have  been  a  different 
thing.  They  had  had  abundant  opportunities  for  the 
exercise  of  faith ;  but  they  had  let  them  all  pass  by. 
They  had  contracted  a  habit  of  distrust.  And  instead 
of  becoming  stronger  in  faith,  they  were  actually  getting 
weaker ;  and  accordingly  when  the  crisis  came,  it  was 
only  what  was  to  be  expected  that  their  courage  should 
utterly  fail,  simply  because  it  had  no  faith  to  rest  upon. 
How  shall  we  stand  the  test  when  our  day  of  crisis 
comes  ?  The  answer  will  depend  on  the  antecedent 
question,  how  we  have  improved  those  opportunities 
which  have  been  previously  given  for  the  development 
of  our  faith.  "  He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least, 
is  faithful  also  in  much." 

''Weighed  in  the  balances,  and  found  wanting."  After 
all  their  advantages  they  missed  the  prize.  The  appeal 
of  Joshua  and  Caleb  was  the  last  opportunity ;  they 
never  had  another.  "  The  glory  of  the  Lord  appeared  " 
(ver.  10),  no  longer  to  open  up  a  way  for  them,  but  to 
frustrate  their  rebellious  attack  on  His  two  faithful  ser- 
vants, and  to  pass  sentence  of  condemnation  on  the 
entire  congregation.  Through  the  mediation  of  Moses, 
the  lives  of  the  people  are  spared ;  but  they  are  degraded 
from  their  position  as  the  hosts  of  the  Lord.  "  Because 
all  those  men  which  have  seen  My  glory,  and  My  mira- 
cles which  I  did  in  Egypt  and  in  the  wilderness,  and 
have  tempted  Me  now  these  ten  times,  and  have  not 
hearkened  to  My  voice,  surely  they  shall  not  see  the 
land  "  (ver.  22).  "  To-morrow  turn  you,  and  get  you 
into  the  wilderness"  (ver.  25). 


268  The  Mosaic  Era. 

After  it  was  too  late,  they  changed  their  minds :  "  Lo, 
we  be  here,  and  we  will  go  up  unto  the  place  which  the 
Lord  hath  promised :  for  we  have  sinned."  Moses 
warned  them  that  in  doing  so  they  would  be  only  add- 
ing to  their  guilt  and  ensuring  defeat ;  but  they  would 
persist.  They  would  not  go,  trusting  in  God  ;  and  now 
they  will  go,  trusting  in  themselves.  "  Then  the  Amale- 
kites  came  down,  and  the  Canaanites  which  dwelt  in 
that  hill,  and  smote  them,  and  discomfited  them,  even 
unto  'Hormah." 

"■  So  we  see  that  they  could  not  enter  in  because  of 
unbelief."  ''  Let  us  therefore  fear,  lest  a  promise  being 
left  us  of  entering  into  His  rest,  any  of  you  should  seem 
to  come  short  of  it." 


XVTI. 
THE    FORTY   YEARS.* 

NUMBERS  XV.-XIX. 

a  Ij^ORTY  years  long  was  I  grieved  with  this  genera- 
J-  tion."  The  forty  years  includes  the  whole  time 
between  the  Exodus  and  the  Entrance.  And  certainly 
there  was  no  part  of  the  time  during  which  the  Lord 
had  not  occasion  to  be  ''  grieved  with  this  generation." 
But  the  time  specially  referred  to  is  that  of  the  wander- 
ing, after  the  sentence  had  been  passed  excluding  from 
the  land  of  promise  the  generation  that  came  out  of 
Egypt,  and  before  the  next  one  had  grown  up  to  take 
the  place  of  their  unbelieving  fathers.  This  period  cov- 
ered thirty-seven  or  thirty-eight  years.  Two  months 
only  were  occupied  in  the  journey  to  Sinai  (Exod.  xix. 
i),  ten  in  the  giving  of  the  Sinai  revelation  (Exod.  xl. 
17),  and  one  in  prescribing  the  ritual  of  Leviticus  (see 
Num.  i.  i),  making  one  year  and  one  month  in  all. 
Deuteronomy  begins  with  the  eleventh  month  of  the 
fortieth  year  (Deut.  i.  3) ;  so  that  the  entire  book  of 
Numbers  covers  a  space  of  thirty-eight  years  and  nine 
months. 

But   there  is  by  no  means  a  consecutive  history  of 
that  period  in  the  book.     Twenty  days  only  were  con- 

(269) 


270  The  Mosaic  Era. 

sumed  before  the  march  began  (Num.  x.  11);  and  tke 
journey  from  Sinai  to  Kadesh  could  not  have  occupied 
a  very  long  time,  and  was  probably  reached  in  the  au- 
tumn of  the  same  year  when  the  grapes  were  ripe  (xiii. 
23).  On  the  other  hand,  the  twentieth  chapter  has  for 
its  date  the  fifth  month  of  the  fortieth  year,  since  it 
records  the  death  of  Aaron,  which  took  place  at  that 
time  according  to  the  itineraiy  in  Numbers  xxxiii. 
(ver.  38) ;  so  that  between  the  fifteenth  and  the  twen- 
tieth chapters  there  must  have  been  a  gap  of  about 
thirty-eight  years.  And  this  is  confirmed  by  the  state- 
ment in  Deuteronomy  ii.  14. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  us  is  the  silence  of  Scrip- 
ture concerning  the  history  of  that  long  period.  Ten 
chapters  about  the  doings  of  twenty  days  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  book  ;  and  in  the  middle  of  it  we  have  only 
five  about  the  doings  of  thirty-eight  years  !  And  these 
five  chapters,  as  we  shall  find,  relate  only  one  event  of 
importance,  and  that  one  anything  but  creditable  —  an 
event  that  would  have  been  more  honored  in  the  omis- 
sion than  in  the  recording.  Practically,  then,  the  thirty- 
eight  years  are  passed  over  in  silence.  A  most  signifi- 
cant silence  indeed,  and  full  of  weighty  and  impressive 
lessons  for  the  prople  of  God  in  all  times.  We  have 
seen  that  the  date  of  the  Exodus  was  the  starting-point 
of  their  national  history.  All  the  years  before  were 
counted  out  and  consigned  to  oblivion.  Only  when 
they  turned  their  backs  upon  Egypt  and  began  to  fol- 
low the  Lord  did  they,  in  the  proper  sense,  begin  to 
live.  And  for  the  same  reason,  when  they  turned  their 
backs  upon  Canaan,  they  ceased  to  live.     They  existed 


The  Forty  Years.  271 

still.  They  made  a  living  in  the  desert.  But  God  has 
no  place  in  His  book  of  remembrance  for  those  who 
only  make  a  living,  who  are  simply  occupied  with  self- 
preservation,  and  fail  to  do  the  work  which  He  has  ap- 
pointed. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  on  the  day  when  they 
came  out  of  Egypt  a  new  name  was  given  to  the  people  : 
"  And  it  came  to  pass,  at  the  end  of  the  four  hundred 
and  thirty  years,  even  the  selfsame  day  it  came  to  pass, 
that  all  THE  HOSTS  OF  THE  LORD  went  out  from 
the  land  of  Egypt  "  (Exod.  xii.  40).  And  again,  in  the 
last  verse  of  the  same  chapter :  "  And  it  came  to  pass 
the  selfsame  day,  that  the  Lord  did  bring  the  children 
of  Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  dy  tJieir  armies^  It 
was  on  that  ''  selfsame  day "  that  they  began  to  live  : 
"  This  shall  be  to  you  the  beginning  of  months."  From 
that  time  onward,  through  all  their  murmurings  and 
rebellions,  they  never  entirely  lost  their  standing  as  the 
hosts  of  the  Lord.  They  had  followed  on  in  the  way 
the  Lord  had  led  them  from  Succoth  to  Sinai.  They 
had,  after  the  brief  apostasy  of  the  calf  worship,  faith- 
fully followed  the  Divine  directions  in  regard  to  the 
Tabernacle  and  its  worship,  and  the  ordering  of  the  camp. 
From  Sinai  to  Kadesh,  though  murmuring  and  unbe- 
lieving still,  they  were  nevertheless  obedient  in  following 
the  lead  of  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire;  and  their  faces 
were  ever  directed  towards  the  goal  which  the  Lord  had 
set  before  them.  But  now — they  have  refused  to  advance 
and  have  even  attempted  to  stone  the  two  faithful  wit- 
nesses, through  whom  the  Lord  was  addressing  to  them 
His  last  appeal;  and  accordingly  they  can  no  longei  be 


272  The  Mosaic  Era. 

considered  the  hosts  of  the  Lord.  An  army  they  have 
ceased  to  be,  and  are  only  so  many  Bedouins  of  the 
desert.  Why  should  their  doings  find  any  longer  a  place 
"  in  the  volume  of  the  book  "  ? 

The  same  principle  is  no  doubt  followed  still.  It  is 
true,  indeed,  that  the  canon  of  Scripture  has  long  been 
complete,  and  there  is  no  place  in  the  Bible  now  for 
even  the  most  valiant  doings  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
Cross.  But  God  has  a  book  of  remembrance  which 
shall  one  day  be  opened  ;  and  in  it  shall  be  found  written 
all  that  is  worthy  of  memory  in  the  doings  of  His 
Church.  In  that  record  there  shall  no  doubt  be  many 
gaps  like  this  in  Numbers — years  of  precious  time  that 
might  have  been  full  of  great  things  done  for  the  Lord, 
blank,  or  worse  than  blank,  with  nothing  in  them  that 
is  not  discreditable.  This  will  be  the  case  with  all 
those  years  during  which,  as  Christians  or  as  Christian 
Churches,  we  only  exist,  without  advancing,  without 
making  fresh  conquests,  and  hastening  the  time  when 
"all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord  " 
(Num.  xiv.  2i).  He  may  not  indeed  utterly  cut  us  off, 
just  as  He  spared  the  lives  of  that  unbelieving  genera- 
tion. He  may,  and  no  doubt  will  pardon,  just  as  He 
pardoned  them  (ver.  20),  if  we  are  His  people  at  all ; 
but  then,  it  will  be  given  to  others  (ver.  31)  to  do  the 
work  and  enjoy  the  honour  which  we  have  put  from 
ourselves.  Alas,  even  for  the  Christian  Churches  and 
Christian  people  who  relinquish  their  service  in  the 
field,  and  content  themselves  with  simply  making  a  pre- 
carious living  as  wanderers  in  the  desert ! 

From  what  has  been  said  it  is  very  evident  that  we 


The  Forty  Years.  273 

may  pass  rapidly  over  these  chapters.  The  fifteenth 
is  quite  remarkable  as  illustrating  the  unchangeableness 
of  the  Divine  purposes,  notwithstanding  all  the  failures 
of  those  who  have  been  honoured  with  an  appointment 
to  carry  them  out.  When  the  sentence  was  pronounced 
which  excluded  the  whole  generation  from  the  land, 
these  significant  words  were  added  :  "  Ye  shall  know  my 
breach  of  promise."  The  promises  of  God  are  all  "  yea 
and  amen."  There  can  be  no  breach  of  promise  with 
Him.  But  if  those  who  have  been  appointed  to  carry 
out  His  designs  refuse  the  honour,  there  is  that  which 
seems  a  breach  of  promise  so  far  as  they  are  concerned. 
They  are  the  losers.  They  forfeit  the  privilege  and  the 
reward,  and  incur  the  condemnation.  But  the  purposes 
are  carried  out  none  the  less  certainly.  And  this  is 
strikingly  suggested  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  chapter : 
"  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying.  Speak  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  W/ien  ye  be  come 
into  the  land  of  your  habitations,  which  I  give  unto 
you,"  etc.  He  had  just  told  them  that  not  one  of  them 
would  ever  set  foot  in  it.  And  the  very  next  message 
is,  "  when  ye  be  come  into  the  land  "  !  "  All  flesh  is 
grass  ....  the  grass  withereth  ....  but  the  word  of 
the  Lord  endurcth  for  ever'' 

It  is  possible  that  these  directions,  in  view  of  the 
entrance  of  the  next  generation  into  the  land  of  pro- 
mise, were  given  in  mercy,  in  order  to  make  it  evident 
that  though  the  sentence  of  exclusion  could  not  be 
reversed,  yet  the  Lord  had  "  not  cast  away  His  people 
v/hom  He  foreknew."  It  may  be  a  sign  also  that  a  bet- 
ter spirit  had  begun  to  manifest  itself  in  them,  a  spirit 


274  The  Mosaic  Era. 

which  disposed  them  to  acquiesce  in  the  propriety  of 
their  own  exclusion,  and  to  cherish  the  only  pleasant 
prospect  that  was  now  left  them,  the  prospect  of  their 
children  enjoying  what  they  had  lost. 

The  following  chapter  gives  the  history  of  the  rebel- 
lion of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram.  When  it  hap- 
pened there  is  no  means  of  telling.  Quite  probably  it 
was  after  some  time  had  elapsed,  and  the  people  had 
become  utterly  discouraged  by  the  inactivity  and  hope- 
lessness of  the  dreary  years  that  were  passing  over 
them.  Having  nothing  to  do,  they  found  mischief 
ready  to  their  hands.  The  selfish  ambition  of  the  three 
chief  conspirators  found  material  enough  to  work  upon 
in  the  inactive  and  discouraged  multitude. 

The  ostensible  grievance  is  one  which  seems  to  have 
some  foundation  :  '^  All  the  congregation  are  holy,  every 
one  of  them."  That  was  true  enough.  Was  not  the 
whole  nation  called  to  be  "  a  kingdom  of  priests  "  ?  No 
one  could  deny  it.  It  is  often  the  case  that  party  watch- 
words are  everything  that  can  be  desired ;  but  whether 
the  parties  themselves  are,  is  another  question.  There 
will  be  a  great  principle  emblazoned  on  the  flag,  and  the 
very  meanest  and  most  selfish  motives  in  the  hearts  of 
those  who  carry  it. 

Moses  dealt  with  the  alarming  conspiracy  with  his 
usual  wisdom,  and  in  the  same  lofty  spirit  which  we 
have  seen  him  manifesting  on  similar  occasions.  We 
find  him  first  on  his  face  before  the  Lord  (ver.  4),  and 
then,  without  the  slightest  assertion  of  authority,  leav- 
ing the  whole  matter  in  dispute  to  the  Lord's  decision 
(ver.  5),  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  gave  the  leaders  to 


The  Forty  Years.  275 

understand  that  he  recognized  the  selfish  motives  which 
really  inspired  the  rebellion  (ver.  8-1 1).  And  then,  when 
the  decision  was  given,  and  the  judgment  of  God  was 
about  to  fall  (ver.  21),  again  we  find  him  on  his  face  be- 
fore the  Lord,  pleading  with  all  the  earnestness  of  his 
mighty  nature  for  the  people  whom  He  loved  so  much, 
in  spite  of  all  their  ingratitude  and  sin,  and  anon  making 
atonement  for  them,  until  the  plague  was  stayed. 

As  the  matter  in  dispute  had  been  the  right  of  Aaron 
and  his  family  to  a  priesthood  distinct  from  that  of  the 
entire  nation,  care  was  taken,  after  the  excitement  of 
the  conspiracy  and  the  judgment  which  followed  had 
calmed  down,  to  give  such  a  testimony  to  the  Divine 
right  of  the  Aaronic  priesthood,  as  should  set  the  mat- 
ter for  ever  at  rest.  Hence  the  proceeding  recorded  in 
the  seventeenth  chapter. 

An  objection  has  been  taken  to  this  chapter  on  the 
ground  that  after  the  testimony  which  had  been  given 
in  the  suppression  of  the  conspiracy,  and  the  terrible 
judgments  with  which  it  was  accompanied,  there  was 
no  need  of  further  witness ;  and,  accordingly,  some  have 
said  that  evidently  this  narrative  is  out  of  its  place. 
But  a  very  little  consideration  will  show  how  shallow 
this  objection  is.  There  are  some  very  important 
respects  in  which  the  testimony  given  by  the  budding 
of  Aaron's  rod  was  very  much  needed  in  the  circum- 
stances. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  that  thought  already  sug- 
gested, that  the  witness  of  the  preceding  chapter  had 
been  given  in  a  time  of  great  excitement,  and  for  that 
very  reason  was  less  fitted  to  make  a  lasting  impression. 


2/6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

But  besides,  it  was  associated  with  death  and  judgment, 
whereas  the  priesthood  was  appointed  for  Hfe  and  bless- 
ing. This  was  beautifully  symbolized  in  the  budding 
rod  of  Aaron.  And  accordingly  we  have  in  the  witness 
of  the  seventeenth  chapter,  not  an  arbitrary  sign,  but  an 
expressive  symbol,  which  conveys  valuable  instruction 
in  relation  to  the  characteristics  of  those  who  have  a 
right  to  be  considered  true  priests  of  God.  Apply 
it,  for  example,  to  ourselves.  We  are  all  called  to  be 
priests  under  the  new  covenant.  What  are  our  cre- 
dentials? What  title  has  any  particular  congregation, 
of  progressing  Christians,  for  instance,  to  be  consi- 
dered as  belonging  to  the  Church  of  God,  the  Di- 
vinely accepted  priesthood  ?  ''  By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them."  Look  at  these  rods  of  the  princes. 
Do  they  not  seem  as  good  as  Aaron's  rod  ?  Better  pro- 
bably, if  anything.  They  may  have  been  more  costly 
and  more  attractive  looking,  being  rods  of  the  princes. 
But  wait  awhile.  Give  time.  After  the  interval  has 
passed,  look  at  them  again.  The  rods  of  the  princes  are 
just  as  they  were  before.  They  are  not  broken  or  dam- 
aged in  any  way.  There  they  are,  everything  right  and 
proper  about  them,  apparently.  But  look  at  Aaron's. 
Behold  it  has  "  budded  and  brought  forth  buds,  and 
bloomed  blossoms,  and  yielded  almonds."  There  is 
life  and  growth  and  fruitfulness  there.  The  rods  of  the 
princes  were  dry  sticks.  The  rod  of  the  priest  was  a 
living  and  fruitful  branch.  So,  too,  there  are  many 
Christian  people  and  Christian  congregations  that  are 
dead  and  dry,  while  others  are  continually  sending  out 
buds  and  bearing  fruit.     The  latter  only  have  the  title 


The  Forty  Years.  277 

to  be  ranked  among  the  genuine  priesthood,  or  to  as- 
sume the  prerogatives  of  the  Church  of  God. 

The  chapter  which  follows  (xviii.)  is  a  continuation 
of  the  same  subject.  It  lays  down  the  law  in  detail, 
in  regard  to  the  question  in  dispute.  That  question 
was  settled  de  facto  in  the  sixteenth,  de  jure  in  the 
seventeenth,  and  now  as '  a  matter  of  law  in  the  eight- 
eenth chapter.  There  is  an  adjustment  of  the  priestly 
and  Levitical  duties  (ver.  1-7),  a  setting  forth  of  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  priests  (ver  8-19)  ;  and  of 
the  perquisites  of  the  Levites,  with  their  corresponding 
obligations  (ver.  21-32). 

The  ordinance  of  the  red  heifer,  which  is  detailed  in 
the  nineteenth  chapter,  is  also  closely  connected  with 
the  conspiracy  against  the  priesthood.  The  mortality 
in  the  camp  had  been  unusually  severe  (see  xvi.  49 ; 
xvii.  13);  and,  in  consequence,  it  must  have  been  spe- 
cially burdensome  for  those  who  were  defiled  by  neces- 
sary contact  with  the  dead  to  bring  the  appointed  sacri- 
fices. For  such  persons  the  regulation  concerning  the 
ashes  of  the  heifer  would  bring  great  relief,  affording  as 
it  did  a  means  of  purification  ready  to  hand. 

But  while  this  rite  of  purification  was  appointed  to 
meet  the  necessities  of  the  emergency,  it  is  as  full  as  any 
part  of  the  ordinary  ritual,  of  important  truth  concern- 
ing the  way  of  cleansing  through  the  great  Sacrifice  of 
the  New  Testament.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  we  have  the 
strong  sacrificial  foundation  with  its  already  familiar  ele- 
ments :  the  choice  of  an  animal  without  blemish,  the  kill- 
ing, the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  "  before  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation,"  the  burning  without   the   camp. 


278  The  Mosaic  Era. 

The  special  feature  of  the  new  ordinance  is,  in  the  means 
taken  to  make  one  sacrifice  available  for  an  indefinite 
number  of  cases.  This  was  done  by  the  concentration, 
so  to  speak,  of  all  the  elements  of  the  sacrifice  in  the 
ashes,  which  were  to  be  preserved.  Here  we  have  the 
explanation  of  the  casting  ''  into  the  midst  of  the  burn- 
ing of  the  heifer"  of  "  cedar  wood  and  hyssop  and  scar- 
let "  (ver.  6).  These  represent  the  appliances  for  sprink- 
ling :  the  hyssop  stalk  with  scarlet  wool  wrapped  round 
it,  fastened  on  a  piece  of  cedar  wood,  which  was  held  in 
the  hand.  By  the  casting  of  these  into  the  burning,  the 
idea  of  sprinkling  was,  as  it  were,  perpetuated  in  the 
ashes  which  were  the  residuum  of  the  whole.  These 
ashes  could  of  course  be  preserved  and  used  for  an  in- 
definite time ;  and  each  time  they  were  used,  the  ideas 
which  had,  so  to  speak,  been  burnt  into  them,  would  be 
impressed  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  devout. 
The  ashes  then  represented  the  power  of  a  past  sacrifice ; 
and  accordingly  we  have  in  this  special  ordinance  a  bet- 
ter shadow  than  almost  anywhere  else  of  the  blessed 
truth  of  the  new  covenant,  that  the  Sacrifice  once  made 
never  needs  to  be  repeated  ;  but  remains  of  undiminish- 
ed efificacy  to  the  end  of  time.  To  adapt  a  well-known 
sentence  of  the  poet,  "  even  in  its  ashes  live  its  former 
fires." 

The  use  of  the  running  water  with  the  ashes  (ver.  17) 
has  the  same  significance  as  in  the  ritual  for  the  cleansing 
of  the  leper,  which  we  had  before  us  in  the  fourteenth 
chapter  of  Leviticus. 

In  making  application  of  the  ordinance  of  the  red 
heifer  to  ourselves,  we  find  it  specially  instructive  in  re- 


The  Forty  Years.  279 

gard  to  the  restoration  of  that  communion  with  God, 
which  ought  to  be  the  chief  joy  of  the  Christian,  and 
which  is  too  often  broken  by  the  contracting  of  stains, 
so  difficult  to  avoid,  with  sin  "  reigning  unto  death  "  all 
around  us.  There  are  those  who  under  these  circum- 
stances feel  peculiarly  discouraged.  They  have  the  im- 
pression that  it  must  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  get  back 
to  their  former  position.  They  remember  how  long  it 
took  them  at  first  to  be  reconciled  to  God ;  and  they 
think  how  much  more  difficult  it  must  be  now  that  the 
evil  has  been  allowed  after  the  experience  of  God's  sav- 
ing grace.  It  seems  a  long  and  hard  way  back ;  and 
they  have  not  courage  to  begin  again.  It  is  a  mistake. 
The  way  back  again  is  not  long  and  hard.  There  are 
the  ashes  of  the  heifer  and  the  running  water  close  at 
hand.  There  need  be  no  delay,  as  if  a  nev/  animal  must 
be  obtained,  and  brought  to  the  priest,  and  killed  at  the 
altar,  and  so  forth.  There  is  a  shorter  way.  Look  back 
to  the  Sacrifice  offered  long  ago  once  for  all.  There  is 
the  running  water  of  the  Word,  which  has  in  it,  as  it 
were  in  solution,  the  strong  ashes  of  the  Sacrifice.  There 
for  evermore  is  stored  the  virtue  of  that  blood  which 
"  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  There  need  be  no  delay.  For 
the  ashes  and  the  water,  we  have  the  cross  and  the 
Word ;  and  all  that  is  wanted  is  the  immediate  use  of 
God's  "  perpetual  statute  for  purifying  the  unclean '' ; 
"  for  if  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  and  the  ashes  of 
an  heifer  sprinklmg  the  unclean,  sanctifieth  to  the  purify- 
ing of  the  flesh  :  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christy 
who  through  the  Eternal  Spirit  offered  Himself  without 


28o  The  Mosaic  Era. 

spot  to  God,  purge  your  conscience  from  dead  works  to 
serve  the  living  God  ?  "  (Heb.  ix.  13,  14). 

We  had  occasion  to  remark  in  the  early  part  of  this 
lecture,  that  there  was  only  one  incident  of  importance 
recorded  during  the  thirty-eight  years  of  wandering,  viz., 
the  rebellion  of  Korah.  But  as  we  have  seen,  many 
things  have  grown  out  of  it  which  were  of  lasting  value, 
especially  the  mediation  of  Moses  and  the  forgiving 
mercy  of  God,  the  witness  of  the  budding  rod,  and  the 
valuable  ordinance  of  the  red  heifer.  Thus  it  is  that 
God  "makes  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,"  and  uses 
even  his  most  sinful  outbreaks  as  occasions  for  magnify- 
ing the  glory  of  His  grace.  The  forty  years  left  nothing 
to  the  credit  of  Israel ;  but  brief  and  scanty  as  its  no- 
tices are,  they  are  full  of  value  as  part  of  the  revelation 
of  ^'  God  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  Himself." 


XVIII. 
THE    NEW    DEPARTURE. 

NUMBERS  XX.,  XXI. 

THE  fortieth  year  is  now  running  its  course.  The 
time  of  the  curse  has  nearly  expired.  The  old 
generation  has  almost  passed  away.  And  now  prepa- 
rations may  be  begun  for  entering  a  second  time  on  the 
march  to  Canaan,  where  a  new  generation  must  vindi- 
cate the  claim  of  Israel  to  be  indeed  ''  the  hosts  of  the 
Lord,"  by  taking  possession  of  the  land  of  promise. 

It  was  at  Kadesh  that  the  sentence  had  been  pro- 
nounced which  doomed  their  fathers  to  these  dreary 
years  of  wandering.  It  is  at  Kadesh  again  that  the 
camp  is  reorganized.  It  seems  likely  that  during  the 
interval  there  was  no  definite  aim  or  object  before  the 
people,  so  that  they  moved  about  as  suited  their  con- 
venience or  necessities,  very  much  as  the  wandering 
tribes  of  the  desert  do  still.  This  would  lead  to  a  re- 
laxation of  discipline  and  order  in  the  camp,  and  more 
or  less  scattering  of  the  people.  Their  unity  was  indeed 
to  a  certain  extent  kept  up,  and  their  marching  orders 
given  as  of  old,  probably  at  long  intervals.  So  at  least 
we  would  infer  from  the  itinerary  in  Numbers  xxxiii. ; 
but  there  must  have  been  no  little  disorganization  and 

(281) 


282  The  Mosaic  Era. 

dispersion,  rendering  it  necessary  that  there  should  be  a 
reassembling  of  the  forces.  For  this  purpose  no  place 
could  be  better  or  more  appropriate  than  Kadesh,  not 
only  because  it  must  have  been  so  familiar  to  all,  but 
also  because,  by  making  it  their  point  of  departure  they 
resumed  the  thread  that  had  been  broken  by  the  unbelief 
of  their  fathers.  The  total  loss  of  the  long  interval  of 
time,  moreover,  is  more  distinctly  marked  by  the  gather- 
ing of  the  people  together  at  the  old  halting  place. "^ 

There  is  a  striking  contrast  between  the  new  departure 
and  the  old.  The  first  began  with  the  numbering  and 
mustering  of  the  armed  men,  and  all  the  bustle,  activity, 
and  energy  of  a  youthful  host  setting  out  to  victory. 
The  second  seems  to  have  a  much  less  hopeful  begin- 
ning. The  twentieth  of  Numbers  is  one  of  the  saddest 
^  chapters  in  the  book.  It  begins  with  the  death  of  her 
who  had  been  the  leader  in  the  song  of  victory  on  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea.  It  ends  with  the  death  of  him 
who  had  so  long  been  the  honoured  representative  of 
Israel  in  the  Holy  and  the  Most  Holy  Place.  And,  be- 
tween the  two,  we  have  the  old  story  of  murmuring  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  and  mercy  on  the  part  of  God, 
but  with  this  sad  addition,  that  Moses  himself  has  a  fall 
— a  fall  so  serious  that  it  leads  to  his  own,  as  well  as 
Aaron's,  exclusion  from  the  land  of  promise. 

It  seems  a  hopeless  beginning  indeed.     But  was  there 
not  something  hopeful  in  its  very  hopelessness?    Recall 


*  It  is  not  our  province  to  discuss  geographical  questions,  or  we 
should  here  deal  with  the  dispute  as  to  whether  there  are  not  two 
places  of  the  same  name.  The  best  authorities  seem  now  to  be  in 
favour  of  the  view  which  is  here  presented. 


The  New  Departure.  283 

that  scene  of  wrestling  at  Peniel,  when  the  patriarch  Ja- 
cob gained  the  new  name  of  Israel.  How  did  he  gain 
it  ?  By  his  own  strength  ?  Nay.  It  was  through  weak- 
ness that  he  was  made  strong.  It  was  when  his  thigh 
was  out  of  joint,  when  his  power  as  a  wrestler  was  utter- 
ly broken,  that  his  hope  of  victory  began.  Power  with 
God  is  what  is  needed  to  secure  victory ;  and  in  order  to 
this,  there  must  be  first  a  realization  of  our  own  weak- 
ness. This  was  Israel's  experience  at  the  Jabbok.  It 
was  also  the  Apostle  Paul's :  "  Most  gladly  therefore  will 
I  glory  in  my  infirmities,  that  the  power  of  Christ  may 
rest  upon  me."  This  will  illustrate  what  we  mean,  when 
we  say  that  there  is  something  hopeful  in  the  very  hope- 
lessness of  this  chapter.  Its  great  lesson  is,  "  Cease  ye 
from  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils  ;  for  wherein  is 
he  to  be  accounted  of  ?  "  "  Put  not  your  trust  in  princes, 
nor  in  the  son  of  man,  in  whom  there  is  no  help.  His 
breath  goeth  forth,  he  returneth  to  his  earth  ;  in  that  very 
day  his  thoughts  perish." 

And  this  prepares  the  way  for  the  great  lesson  of  the 
next  chapter,  which  may  be  expressed  in  the  very  words 
which  follow  the  passage  just  quoted  from  the  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-sixth  psalm,  ''  Happy  is  he  that  hath  the 
God  of  Jacob  for  his  help,  whose  hope  is  in  the  Lord  his 
God."  This  most  valuable  lesson  is  taught  in  three  sue-  - 
cessive  experiences. 

First,  the  victory  over  Arad  (xxi.  1-3).  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  contest  Israel  had  been  defeated,  and  some 
had  been  taken  prisoners.  This  event  indeed  properly 
belongs  to  the  time  of  the  twentieth  chapter,  for  the 
encounter  with  Arad  must  have  taken  place  before  the 


284  The  Mosaic  Era. 

death  of  Aaron,  as  all  the  commentators  point  out ;  but 
there  seems  to  be  a  double  reason  for  reserving  the 
account  of  it  to  this  place :  First,  the  desire  on  the  part 
of  the  historian  to  keep  together  the  closely  related 
events  of  the  deaths  of  Miriam  and  Aaron,  and  the  sen- 
tence which  excluded  even  Moses  from  the  promised 
land  ;  and  next,  the  fact  that  inasmuch  as  the  defeat 
was  retrieved  and  victory  gained  in  the  end,  it  belongs 
really  to  that  brighter  side  which  opens  up  after  the 
great  lesson  of  human  weakness  and  mortality  has  been 
sufficiently  impressed.  And  here  it  is  important  to  notice 
that  the  victory  was  not  given  to  Israel  until  after  they 
had  realized  how  utterly  unable  they  were  to  gain  it  for 
themselves,  and  had  accordingly  come  with  vows  and 
prayers  to  the  Lord.  Then  it  was  that  "  the  Lord 
hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  Israel,  and  delivered  up  the 
Canaanites  ;  and  they  utterly  destroyed  them." 

The  second  experience  was  one  of  deliverance  from 
death.  Here,  again,  there  is  first  a  time  of  humbling 
disclosure  :  "  The  soul  of  the  people  was  much  discour- 
aged because  of  the  way  "  (ver.  4).  Then  came  the 
usual  murmuring,  for  the  sin  of  the  fathers  has  evidently 
descended  to  the  children  ;  then  the  plague  of  serpents, 
with  dreadful  stings  producing  fiery  inflammation  that 
resulted  speedily  in  death.  Then  the  humble  confession 
and  prayer :  "  We  have  sinned,  for  we  have  spoken 
against  the  Lord,  and  against  thee ;  pray  unto  the 
Lord,  that  He  take  away  the  serpents  from  us."  This 
is  the  turning-point — an  acknowledgment  of  weakness, 
sin,  and  need.  And  immediately  the  Lord  "  shows 
His  salvation  in  the  sight    of  all    the    people."     "The 


The  New  Departure.  2SS 

Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Make  thee  a  fiery  serpent,  and 
set  it  upon  a  pole :  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every 
one  that  is  bitten,  when  he  looketh  upon  it,  shall  live." 

We  all  know  the  use  our  Saviour  made  of  this  inci- 
dent, treating  it  as  a  type  of  the  great  salvation  which 
He  wrought  out  for  sinful  men :  "  As  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of 
man  be  lifted  up :  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."  In  the  ser- 
pent's bite,  the  poison  of  which  pervades  the  whole 
frame  of  the  victim,  and  causes  death,  we  recognize  a 
vivid  symbol  of  sin.  And  in  the  remedy,  too,  there 
are  obvious  points  of  analogy.  In  both  cases  it  was 
provided  by  God  Himself.  In  both,  the  way  of  cure 
had  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  disease.  By  fiery  stinging 
serpents  came  death  ;  by  a  serpent  of  brass,  made  in  the 
likeness  of  the  fiery  serpents,  but  without  their  sting, 
came  life.  In  the  same  way,  as  "  by  man  came  death," 
so  by  One  who  was  made  "  in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
flesh,"  but  without  that  sin  which  is  "  the  sting  of 
death," — by  Hrm  came  life  eternal.  In  both  cases,  the 
means  of  cure  was  simply  looking — in  the  one  with  the 
bodily  eye  ;  in  the  other  with  the  eye  of  faith.  In  both 
cases  the  object,  to  which  the  eye  must  be  directed,  is 
*'  lifted  up  " — in  the  one  case  on  a  pole  ;  in  the  other  on 
the  cross  (see  John  xii.  32).  In  both,  salvation  is  offered 
to  all  without  exception :  "  every  one  "  (Num.  xxi.  8), 
''any  man"  (ver.  9),  '' whosoever  "  (John  iii.  15).  In 
both,  life  was  the  reward  of  looking;  death,  the  inevi- 
table consequence  of  refusal.  These  points  might  be 
developed,  but  time  will  only  allow  of  their  suggestion. 


286  The  Mosaic  Era. 

The  third  experience  meets  the  discouragement  of 
the  people  because  of  the  way,  which  is  referred  to  in 
the  fourth  verse.  No  wonder  they  were  discouraged. 
Travellers  tell  us  that  the  desert  of  the  Arabah,  through 
which  they  were  then  passing,  is  the  very  worst  part  of 
all  the  routes  of  travel  through  the  Sinaitic  peninsula, 
the  heat  of  the  long,  dry,  desolate  valley  being  intoler- 
able. No  wonder  they  were  "  discouraged  because  of 
the  way."  When  the  discouragement  led  to  murmur- 
ing and  repining,  the  only  result  was  the  plague  of 
fiery  serpents  ;  but  now  that  there  has  been  repentance, 
and  the  journey  has  been  prosecuted  in  a  more  humble 
and  believing  spirit,  lo  !  in  the  midst  of  the  desolation 
there  appears  —  a  well.  "  Then  Israel  sang  this  song  " 
(ver.  17).  There  is  not  a  great  deal  of  poetry  in  the 
song.  It  has  not  the  ring  of  the  Red  Sea  song.  There 
was  no  Miriam  to  sing  it  now ;  and  we  may  well  imagine 
that  even  Moses  had  not  the  same  poetic  fire  which  he 
had  in  his  younger  days.  But,  though  there  was  less 
poetry  and  probably  less  music  too,  there  was  plenty  of 
heart  in  it ;  and  therefore  it  has  a  place,  and  a  most 
honourable  place,  in  the  Lord's  book  of  remembrance. 
The  dreariness  of  the  desert  would  be  speedily  for- 
gotten ;  but  who  could  ever  forget  the  well  and  the 
song? 

And  now  the  people  are  ready  to  do  battle  for  the 
Lord.  They  have  well  learned  the  two  great  lessons  of 
their  own  weakness  and  the  Lord's  resistless  might  ; 
and  accordingly  they  may  advance  even  against  Sihon, 
king  of  the  Amorites,  and  the  mighty  Og,  king  of 
the  giants  of  Bashan.     The   easy  defeat  of   these  two 


The  New  Departure.  287 

potentates,  and  the  occupation  of  their  land,  are  re- 
corded in  the  remainder  of  the  chapter. 

Before  we  leave  this  very  interesting  part  of  the  book 
of  Numbers,  we  must  call  attention  to  some  rich  veins 
of  truth  we  have  had  to  pass  over,  but  which  will  repay 
the  diligent  worker. 

One  is,  the  history  of  the  sin  and  punishment  of 
Moses  and  Aaron.  Here  a  difficulty  presents  itself.  It 
seems  a  very  hard  sentence  for  a  very  light  offence. 
Not  only  does  the  offence  seem  slight  in  itself,  but 
more  especially  in  comparison  with  previous  oft'ences. 
In  the  case  of  Aaron,  we  cannot  help  thinking  of  the 
golden  calf  and  Miriam's  sedition,  in  both  of  which  dis- 
creditable transactions  he  took  a  very  guilty  part.  And 
even  in  the  case  of  Moses,  does  it  not  seem  as  if  his 
unbelief  and  impatience,  as  recorded  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  this  same  book  (ver.  10-15),  were  much  more 
censurable  than  his  conduct  on  this  occasion  ? 

Looking  first  at  the  case  of  Moses  himself,  we  ought 
to  remember  what  a  critical  time  this  was,  when  Israel 
was  taking  a  new  departure  ;  and  what  special  care  he 
ought  to  have  exercised  at  this  juncture  to  have  his  tes- 
timony unclouded  by  any  weakness  or  faithlessness. 
The  responsibility  of  Moses'  position  was  great  at  all 
times  ;  but  it  was  perhaps  greatest  of  all  at  this  particular 
time.  This  important  element  in  the  case  must  not  be 
disregarded.  But  besides  this,  we  cannot  but  notice 
that  the  impatience  which  he  manifested  at  Kibroth- 
hattaavah  was  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  Himself,  and 
not  before  the  people  —  a  very  different  thing.  There, 
he  was  wrestling  with    God    in    private.     Here,    he    is 


288  The  Mosaic  Era. 

standing  in  the  eye  of  all.  Is  there  not  some  reference 
to  this  in  the  very  words  of  the  sentence  :  "  Because  ye 
believed  Me  not,  fo  sanctify  Me  in  the  eyes  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  therefore  ye  shall  not  bring  this  congregation 
into  the  land  which  I  have  given  them." 

Looking  next  at  the  case  of  Aaron,  is  there  not  some- 
thing in  this,  that  whereas,  on  former  occasions  of  un- 
faithfulness, he  had  Moses  to  come  as  mediator  between 
him  and  his  deserved  punishment,  on  this  occasion  he 
was  deprived  of  his  brother's  powerful  intercession  ? 
Here  Moses  cannot  answer  for  himself,  and  therefore 
cannot  act  as  mediator  for  his  brother.  The  fall  of 
Moses  carries  that  of  Aaron  with  it. 

Besides  all  this,  it  is  important  to  remember  that  we 
can  never  judge  of  evil  from  the  mere  appearance  it 
presents  to  the  onlooker.  God  has  always  elements  in 
view  which  are  hid  from  us.  Sometimes  these  hidden 
facts  may  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  palliate  very  much 
that  which  seems  to  us  utterly  inexcusable.  Sometimes 
they  may  be  such  as  to  make  a  seeming  fault  into  a  real 
crime.  We  "judge  according  to  the  outward  appear- 
ance," because  we  can  do  no  better  ;  and  therefore  we 
are  continually  making  mistakes  in  our  judgment. 
God  always  "judges  righteous  judgment";  for  He 
looks,  not  simply  on  the  face,  but  into  the  heart  of 
things. 

Another  rich  field  for  exploration  is  the  passage 
which  tells  us,  in  a  style  of  simple  grandeur,  of  the 
death  of  Aaron.  The  old  man  died  majestically.  He 
had  many  faults  ;  but  the  root  of  the  matter  was  in  him. 
And  when  the  time  of  crisis  came,  he  showed  that  what 


The  New  Departure.  289 

was  deepest  in  his  character  was  good  and  true,  brave 
and  strong.  Without  a  question  or  a  murmur,  he  climbs 
the  hill,  resigns  his  priestly  garments  to  his  son,  and 
breathes  his  last  upon  the  mountain  top.  No  death-bed 
scene  is  spread  before  us  in  the  simple  record  of  his  end ; 
and  yet  there  is  something  in  the  way  it  is  told,  that 
suggests  the  happiest  thoughts  concerning  it.  "  Aaron 
shall  be  gathered  to  his  people."  "  Gathered!'  not  cast 
away.  You  gather  that  which  you  intend  to  keep. 
Gathered  ^^  to  his  people!'  From  this  side,  it  seemed  a 
separation  from  his  people.  From  the  other  side,  from 
the  Divine  and  heavenly  point  of  view,  it  was  a  gather- 
ing to  his  people.  The  home  land  is  there.  This  is  the 
place  of  separations.  There,  is  the  place  of  reunion. 
There  was  mourning  on  earth  for  thirty  days  (xx.  29). 
There  was  joy  in  heaven  for  ever. 

It  is  quite  likely  that  about  this  time  Moses  composed 
that  touching  Psalm,  which  stands  unrivalled  as  a  Thana- 
topsis,  from  that  day  to  this.  In  speaking  of  the  Song 
of  the  Well,  we  remarked  that  Moses  would  not  now  in 
his  old  age  have  the  poetic  fire  of  earlier  days.  But 
what  he  may  have  lost  in  fire  he  has  gained  in  pathos, 
and  grandeur,  and  tender  practical  piety.  Peerless  in  all 
these  respects  is  that  nineteenth  Psalm,  which  is  happily 
so  familiar  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  quote  its  words. 
Read  it  clause  by  clause,  and  you  will  see  how  appro- 
priate every  thought  in  it  is  to  the  solemn  time  when 
the  last  men  of  the  old  generation  are  dying  out,  and 
God  is  saying  to  the  next,  "  Return,  ye  children  of  men." 

13 


XIX. 
BALAAM. 

NUMBERS  XXII.-XXV. 

THE  children  of  Israel  are  at  last  gathered  in  the 
plains  of  Moab  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Jordan. 
The  two  great  enemies  who  had  barred  their  progress, 
Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites,  and  Og,  king  of  Bashan, 
have  been  utterly  overthrown.  But  now  Moab,  which 
up  to  this  time  has  been  friendly,  or  at  least  not  hostile, 
is  thoroughly  alarmed,  and  takes  measures  in  combina- 
tion with  Midian,  a  neighbouring  Arabian  people,  for  the 
destruction  of  Israel.  These  measures  are  quite  charac- 
teristic and  natural  from  their  point  of  view.  The 
Midianites  were  descended  from  Abraham,  and  the  Mo- 
abites  from  Lot  ;  and  hence  it  is  quite  probable  that 
they  had  some  knowledge  of  the  remarkable  history  of 
the  most  favoured  branch  of  the  stock  of  Abraham.  And 
this,  coupled  with  what  they  had  witnessed  since  the 
Israelites  entered  their  territory  (for  it  was  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Moab  that  the  battle  was  fought  with  the  king 
of  the  Amorites),  would  give  them  at  least  a  dim  per- 
ception of  the  truth  that  it  was  Divine,  not  human 
power,  which  secured  their  dangerous  rivals  these  great 
triumphs.  Hence  the  resolution  to  invoke  what  super- 
(290) 


Balaam.  291 

natural  aid  they  on  their  side  could  command.  This 
they  did  by  sending  messengers  to  Pethor,  in  the  far 
east,  unto  Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor. 

This  Balaam  was  evidently  a  great  prophet  of  the 
time,  whose  fame  had  extended  far  beyond  the  region 
where  he  lived  ;  and  his  reputed  power  of  drawing  down 
blessings  or  curses  from  above,  was  so  great,  that  the 
confederates  entertained  the  hope  that  through  him 
they  could  neutralize  the  peculiar  power  which  was  evi- 
dently wielded  by  Moses,  as  the  prophet  of  Jehovah, 
God  of  Israel  (xxii.  5-7).  We  have  not  the  materials 
for  determining  what  title  to  the  position  of  a  prophet 
Balaam  had  previous  to  this  time.  The  probability  is 
that  he  was  in  many  respects  a  superior  man,  with  illu- 
mination enough  to  seize  and  present  not  a  little  of  that 
common  heritage  of  truth  which  had  survived  the  several 
stages  of  corruption  ;  and  quite  possibly  he  was  used  of 
God  for  the  purpose  of  doing  good  among  the  ignorant 
and  degraded  people  around  him.  Indeed,  his  subse- 
quent utterances,  unless  we  suppose  him  to  have  been 
the  subject  of  an  inspiration  which  entirely  superseded 
the  use  of  his  own  faculties  —  a  most  unlikely  supposi- 
tion—  give  evidence  of  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
some  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, so  that  we  may  without  improbability  regard  him 
as  a  worshipper  of  the  true  God  in  that  far-off  land,  and 
yet  one  who  had  by  no  means  shaken  himself  free  from 
the  corrupt  influences  around  him,  as  is  evident  from 
his  subsequent  career. 

There  are  two  parallel  lines  in  the  history  of  Balaam, 
which,  unfortunately  for  him,  were  like  parallel  lines  in 


292  The  Mosaic  Era. 

this  also,  that  they  never  met,  and  though  produced  to 
infinity,  never  can  meet.  These  are  his  conduct  and  his 
words  ;  how  he  acted  and  what  he  said.  His  conduct 
was  of  the  meanest ;  his  words  were  of  the  noblest  that 
ever  came  from  mortal  lips.  Alas  !  how  often  do  these 
two — noble  words  and  ignoble  conduct — run  on  along- 
side each  other  in  the  life  of  man  ;  and  never  meet. 
The  words  abide ;  the  man,  identified  not  with  his 
words,  which  were  from  him,  but  not  of  him,  but  with 
his  conduct,  which  was  the  true  expression  of  himself, 
perishes  for  ever. 

"  The  way  of  Balaam  "  (2  Pet.  ii.  15)  and  the  words 
of  Balaam  are  really  two  different  subjects.  It  is  with 
the  latter  we  have  chiefly  to  do.  But  before  entering 
on  these  most  remarkable  prophecies  of  his  a  few  words 
by  way  of  suggestion  may  be  attempted  in  relation  to 
the  former. 

And  here  we  might  notice  first,  the  eiitrance  to  the 
way,  the  root  of  all  the  evil.  It  was  his  ''  loving  the 
wages  of  unrighteousness  "  as  the  Apostle  Peter  puts  it 
— not  unrighteousness  itself,  only  its  wages.  Could  he 
have  had  the  wages  without  the  work,  he  would  have 
been  better  pleased.  But  he  loved  the  wages  more  than 
he  hated  the  unrighteousness.  The  great  lesson  at  this 
point  is  that  which  our  Lord  presses  so  earnestly,  "  Take 
heed  and  beware  of  covetousness." 

Then  the  way  itself- — the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
evil,  of  which  covetousness  was  the  root.  How  gradually 
the  downward  path  slopes  at  the  outset.  When  the 
temptation  is  first  presented,  he  carries  the  matter  to 
God,  as  was  most  right  and  proper  ;  and  he  gets  the  de- 


Balaam.  293 

cided  answer :  "  Thou  shalt  not  curse  the  people :  for 
they  are  blessed."  This  was  the  crisis.  Had  he  allowed 
the  matter  to  end  here,  as  he  ought  to  have  done,  all 
would  have  been  well.  But  he  still  allows  the  bait  to 
keep  dangling  before  his  excited  imagination  ;  and  ac- 
cordingly, though  in  form  he  refuses  to  go  with  the  mes- 
sengers, he  yet  couches  his  refusal  in  such  terms,  and 
probably  gives  it  in  such  tones,  as  to  suggest  a  second 
attempt  with  a  larger  bribe.  And  when  the  second 
deputation  comes,  instead  of  dismissing  them  at  once,  he 
parleys  with  the  temptation,  and  though  his  words  have 
a  very  brave  and  virtuous  ring  in  them  (ver,  18),  his 
heart  is  set  upon  going  still.  And  accordingly  the  Lord 
allows  him  to  go ;  but  warns  him  at  the  same  time,  that 
it  must  be  for  the  very  opposite  purpose  to  that  for 
which  Balak  wants  him.  He  sets  out,  neither  on  the 
one  hand  with  the  determination  to  oblige  Balak  and 
defy  the  Lord,  nor  on  the  other  hand  to  obey  the  Lord 
and  disregard  Balak  ;  but  in  a  confused  kind  of  way 
hoping  to  combine  the  two  opposite  courses,  so  as  to 
save  himself  so  far  as  the  Lord  was  concerned,  and  yet 
get  the  money  from  the  king  of  Moab.  This  explains 
the  singular  experience  he  has  by  the  way,  and  his 
otherwise  inexplicable  conduct  when  he  reaches  his  des- 
tination. This  double-mindedness  continues  till  we  lose 
sight  of  him  again,  after  he  ''  rose  up,  and  went,  and  re- 
turned to  his  place  "  (xxiv.  25).  But  it  is  gone  when 
we  meet  him  in  the  last  stage  of  his  history. 

This  leads  us  to  the  third  point :  the  end  of  the  way 
The  beginning  of  the  way  was  loving  the  wages  of  un- 
rif^hteousness  ;  the  middle  of  it  was  the  seeking  of  them, 


294  The  Mosaic  Era. 

combined  with  an  ever-weakening  attempt  to  keep  the 
path  of  righteousness  while  seeking  the  other  wages  ; 
and  now  what  is  the  end  ?  "  The  wages  of  sin  ";  which  is 
dcatJi.  From  the  double-mindedness  of  the  middle  stage 
he  very  rapidly  passed  into  whole-hearted  wickedness. 
He  took  a  prominent  part  in  seducing  the  children  of 
Israel  to  those  iniquitous  practices  which  are  referred  to 
in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  (seexxxi.  i6)  ;  and  after  doing 
the  devil's  work  with  a  singleness  of  purpose  he  had 
never  shown  before,  at  last  ''  utterly  perished  in  his  own 
corruption "  (xxxi.  8).  One  of  his  wonderful  sayings 
had  been :  ''  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and 
let  my  last  end  be  like  his."  These,  and  such  as  these, 
were  his  words  ;  that  was  the  end  of  his  way. 

In  passing  from  the  personal  history  of  Balaam  to  his 
prophecies,  let  us  notice  the  wisdom  of  God  in  the  choice 
of  His  instrument.  Could  you  conceive  of  any  more 
striking  way  of  manifesting  the  unalterable  blessedness 
of  the  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord,  than  is  here  taken 
— a  blessing  so  great  and  so  Divine  coming  from  the 
enemy's  camp,  from  a  semi-heathen  and  wicked  prophet's 
mouth,  the  marvellous  issue  of  a  conspiracy  to  curse  be- 
/  tween  two  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  time — could  you 
conceive  of  any  combination  of  circumstances  more 
encouraging  to  God's  people,  and  more  fitted  to  ex- 
tinguish the  hopes  of  their  enemies? 

Now  let  us  look  at  the  prophecies  themselves.  There 
are  four  of  them  in  all ;  but  the  fourth  is  quite  separate 
from  the  other  three,  and  must  be  left  for  separate  con- 
sideration. The  three  are  the  several  responses  of  Ba- 
laam to  Balak's  three  solicitations,  first,  from  "  the  high 


Balaam.  295 

places  of  Baal,"  then  from  the  top  of  PIsgah,  and  lastly 
from  the  top  of  Peor.  These  three  contain  the  blessing. 
The  fourth  is  more  strictly  prophetic,  setting  forth 
what  is  to  happen  in  the  end  of  the  days.  It  is  not 
given  at  Balak's  solicitation ;  but  is,  as  it  were,  forced 
upon  his  unwilling  ear  as  a  wonderful  appendix  to  the 
threefold  benediction  pronounced  upon  Israel. 

Looking  at  the  first  of  the  three  blessings,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  observe  the  reason  Balaam  gives  why  he  can- 
not curse  the  people,  much  as  Balak  wishes  it,  and  much 
as  he  himself  in  his  inmost  soul  desires  to  do  it.  It  is 
this  :  "  Lo,  the  people  shall  dwell  alone,  and  shall  not  be 
reckoned  among  the  nations  "  (xxiii.  9).  This,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  the  special  characteristic  of  the  chosen 
people,  their  isolation,  their  separation  from  other 
nations  for  the  worship  of  the  true  God.  Thus  Balaam, 
evidently  inspired  of  God,  puts  in  the  forefront  of  his 
prophecy  this  very  principle  of  separation  which  lay  at 
the  foundation  of  all  the  Divine  dealings  with  Abraham  ^Z 
and  his  seed,  from  the  time  that  God  addressed  to  him 
the  call :  ''  Come  out  from  thy  country  and  kindred,  and 
I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation." 

The  blessing  closes  with  these  remarkable  words, 
already  quoted  in  another  connection  :  "  Let  me  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his." 
Some  take  this  to  be  a  mere  personal  wish  ;  but  we  be- 
lieve it  to  be  more.  ''  The  righteous  "  in  the  original 
is  almost  a  proper  name,  being  nearly  identical  in  form 
and  in  meaning  with  the  word  Jeshurun,  which  we  find 
in  poetical  language  applied  to  Israel.  When  we  remem- 
ber this,  we  see  that  the  form  the  blessing  takes  is  very 


296  The  Mosaic  Era. 

striking.  This  mighty  man  from  the  East  not  only 
blesses  when  he  was  expected  to  curse,  but  is  so  carried 
away  with  the  magnitude  of  the  blessing,  that  he  longs 
for  a  share  in  it  himself !  And  is  it  not  worthy  of  re- 
mark, in  view  of  the  prevalent  idea  that  a  blessed  im- 
mortality was  quite  foreign  to  the  thought  of  the  Mosaic 
era,  that  the  peculiar  blessedness  of  the  people  whose 
God  is  the  Lord,  is  represented  here,  not  as  closing,  but 
as  culminating,  at  death? 

In  the  second  .blessing  (ver.  14-24),  the  leading 
thought  is  the  presence  of  the  Lord  as  a  source  of  con- 
tinual blessedness,  safety,  and  strength.  "  The  Lord 
his  God  is  with  him,  and  the  shout  of  a  king  is  among 
them."  This  presence  of  the  Lord  ensures  forgiveness 
of  sin :  "  He  hath  not  beheld  iniquity  in  Jacob,  neither 
hath  he  seen  perverseness  in  Israel  "  ;  absolute  security 
against  the  wiles  of  their  enemies :  ''  Surely  there  is  no 
enchantment  against  Jacob,  neither  is  there  any  divina- 
tion against  Israel "  ;  and  finally,  victory  over  all,  set 
forth  in  imagery  which  recalls  the  language  of  the  Shiloh 
prophecy  in  Genesis,  and  which  is  at  the  same  time 
specially  appropriate  to  the  character  of  the  warlike 
book  of  Numbers. 

The  third  blessing  (xxiv.  1-9)  is  the  finest  of  all.  Its 
central  ideas  are  prosperity  and  victory.  To  appreciate 
its  imagery,  we  must  remember  the  exceeding  value  of 
water  in  the  East,  so  that  abundance  of  it  is  the  best 
poetical  image  of  prosperity  and  national  welfare — also 
that  Agag  was  the  dynastic  name  of  Amalekite  kings, 
and  that  accordingly,  inasmuch  as  Amalek  was  at  that 
time  ''  the   first    of  the   nations  "  (ver.  20)  with  which 


Balaam.  297 

Israel  had  to  deal,  Agag  was  the  great  representative  of 
the  power  of  the  enemies  of  God's  people  (see  Exod. 
xvii.  16).  Here  again  we  cannot  but  observe  the  promi- 
nence of  the  idea  of  the  king  and  the  kingdom,  in  full 
accord  with  what  we  have  said  in  regard  to  the  general 
features  of  the  book. 

We  can  scarcely  pass  from  this  threefold  blessing 
without  raising  the  question  whether  there  is  not  a 
special  significance  in  the  triple  form  it  takes.  Does  it 
not  remind  us  of  the  threefold  blessing  pronounced 
directly  upon  the  camp  of  Israel  on  the  occasion  of  their 
first  departure  on  the  great  expedition  ?  *  Are  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances  quite  incidental  or  meaningless? 
In  the  first  instance  we  are  told  (xxiii.  4)  that  God  met 
Balaam  ;  in  the  second  (ver.  16)  that  Jehovah  met  him  ; 
in  the  third  (xxiv.  2)  that  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon 
him.  As  usual,  indeed,  we  find  the  names  Jehovah  and 
God  interchanged  throughout  the  narrative ;  but  surely 
it  is  worth  noticing  that,  in  the  formal  statement  of  the 
communication  estabhshed  in  each  case  between  God 
and  Balaam,  He  should  be  spoken  of  successively  as 
God  (suggesting  the  Father),  Jehovah  (suggesting  the 
Son),t  and  the  Spirit  of  God  (the  Holy  Ghost).  And  are 
not  the  prominent  ideas  in  the  several  communications 
quite  in  keeping  with  these  distinctive  names  ?  In  the 
first,  the  leading  thought  is  that  of  separation,  suggesting 
God's  separation  of  Abraham  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees, 
and  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  both  of  them  for  the  purpose 

*  See  Numbers  vi.  23-27,  and  the  close  of  XV. 
t  See  Appendix  on  the  name  Jehovah. 

13* 


298  The  Mosaic  Era. 

of  adoption  as  His  children :  "  Come  ye  out  from 
among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  and  touch  not  the  un- 
clean thing,  and  I  will  receive  you,  and  will  be  a  Father 
unto  you."  There  Is  the  Exodus  thought.  In  the 
second  prophecy,  the  prominent  feature   is  the  presence 

f  of  Jehovah,  bringing  forgiveness  and  securing  victory. 
There  Is  the  Leviticus  idea ;  which  in  the  next  age  Is 
expressed  in  the  Incarnation,  the  Advent  of  Emmanuel, 
"  God  with  us."  In  the  third  prophecy  we  have  a  suc- 
cession of  thoughts  all  suggestive  of  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  producing  fertility,  grozvth  in  beauty  and 
in  fragrance,  as  of  trees  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water, 
culminating  in  that  victory  over  all  the  nations  which,  as 
we   have  seen,  is  the  leading  thought  of  the  book   of 

^  Numbers.  Can  we  fail  to  see  In  those  successive  bene- 
dictions "  the  love  of  God  "  the  Father,  who  hath  called 
us  out  from  an  unbelieving  and  lost  world  ;  "  the  grace  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  the  Son,  who  came  from  heaven 
to  dwell  with  man  on  earth,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
finish  iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin  ;  and  ''  the  commu- 
nion of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  who  is  poured  out  as  water  on 
the  dry  ground,  and  by  whose  fertilising  and  life-giving 
power  the  people  of  God  grow  in  beauty  and  fragrance 
and  majesty,  "  as  gardens  by  the  river  side,  as  the  trees 
of  lign  aloes  which  the  Lord  hath  planted,  and  as  cedar 
trees  beside  the  waters  "  (xxiv.  6). 


XX. 

THE  STAR  AND  SCEPTRE  PROPHECY. 

NUMBERS  XXIV.  15-24. 

THIS  last  prophecy  of  Balaam  occupies  the  same 
position  in  the  Mosaic  Era,  that  the  Shiloh  pro- 
phecy (Gen.  xlix.  8-12),  holds  in  the  Patriarchal  Era.* 
It  is,  as  it  were,  an  open  eye,  that  looks  out  from  the 
limited  range  of  touch  to  the  distant  fields  of  vision,  on 
and  on  till  the  point  is  reached  where  heaven  and  earth 
seem  to  meet  and  mingle.  It  will  not  then  be  out  of 
harmony  with  the  general  plan  of  these  studies,  if  we  give 
to  this  striking  prophecy  something  more  than  a  passing 
notice. 

We  have  called  it  the  prophecy  of  the  Star  and 
Sceptre,  from  that  which  may  be  regarded  as  ''the 
point  of  sight "  in  the  vision  ;  "  I  shall  see  him,  but  not 
now  ;  I  shall  behold  him,  but  not  nigh  :  there  shall  come 
a  Star  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  Sceptre  shall  rise  out  of 
Israel  "  (ver  17).  The  Star  and  the  Sceptre  are  symbols 
of  royalty,  the  one  of  royal  splendour,  the  other  of  royal 
power.  The  prophecy  then  heralds  the  coming  of  a 
king,  who  shall  rise  out  of  Israel,  and  is  thus  in  mani-. 
fest  harmony  with  the  special  character  of  the  book  in 
which  it  appears.f 


*  See  "  Ages  before  Moses,"  Lect.  XI.  t  Ibid.,  p.  248. 

(299) 


300  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Who  is  the  king  ?  Some  say  David ;  and  they  are 
not  altogether  wrong.  He  was  '^  a  star  out  of  Jacob," 
he  was  "  a  sceptre  out  of  Israel " ;  and  he  did  "  smite 
the  corners  of  Moab,  and  destroy  the  children  of  Sheth." 
He  did  cut  down  his  enemies  under  him,  and  build  up 
Israel's  kingdom  on  the  ruins  of  theirs.  But  this  subju- 
gation was  only  partial  and  temporary,  and  was  very  far 
indeed  from  exhausting  this  wonderful  prophecy,  which 
extends  far  beyond  David's  time,  even  on  to  the  times 
of  David's  Lord,  the  King  of  whom  the  monarch  of 
Israel  was  only  a  type.  It  was  not  till  that  later  age 
that  "  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  "  appeared,  whose  coming 
was  so  appropriately  heralded  by  *'  His  star  in  the  east  " 
which  the  eastern  sages  saw.  Acquainted  as  these  Magi 
undoubtedly  were  with  this  oracle  of  one  of  their  own 
prophets  of  the  olden  time,  no  sooner  did  the  star  ap- 
pear, than  immediately  they  turned  their  faces  to 
Jerusalem,  with  the  eager  question,  '*  Where  is  He  that 
is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ?  " 

The  symbol  of  the  sceptre  has  already  been  associated 
y^with  the  coming  of  the  King  in  the  Shiloh  prophecy 
of  the  earlier  era.  At  first  sight  there  appears  a  dif- 
ficulty in  the  relation  of  the  one  to  the  other.  As  a 
rule,  the  course  of  prophecy  is  from  the  general  to  the 
particular  ;  but  here  the  order  seems  to  be  reversed  ; 
for  in  Genesis  the  very  tribe  is  specified,  while  in  Num- 
bers the  prophecy  is  not  tribal,  but  national. 

But  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  different 
circumstances,  we  shall  see  very  clearly  the  reason  of 
this.  Jacob  was  blessing  his  twelve  sons,  and  in  the 
course  of  benediction  mentions  what  is  special  to  each  ; 


The  Star  and  ScErxRE  Prophecy.         301 

and  accordingly,  when  he  comes  to  Judah,  he  assigns 
him  the  pecuHar  honor  of  the  tribe  from  which  the 
Sceptre  shall  come.  Balaam,  on  the  other  hand,  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  separate  tribes  as  such.  He 
has  to  do  with  the  Israelites  as  distinguished  from  the 
Moabites  and  other  hostile  nations ;  and  accordingly  he 
has  no  occasion  to  single  out  Judah,  but  simply  refers 
to  the  fact  that  the  coming  King  "  shall  rise  out  of 
Israel." 

In  this  connection  we  cannot  help  remarking  how  this 
sceptre  prophecy  of  Balaam  confirms  the  view  we  took" 
on  that  sceptre  prophecy  of  Jacob.  We  then  called 
attention  to  the  prevalent  view  of  that  prophecy,  which 
makes  it  mean  that  the  sceptre  will  continue  with 
Judah  till  Shiloh  comes,  and  then  depart ;  so  that  the 
departing  of  the  sceptre  by  the  Roman  conquest  is 
actually  taken  as  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy ; 
whereas,  as  we  endeavoured  then  to  show  in  full  detail, 
the  idea  is  not  that  the  sceptre  will  depart,  but  that  it 
will  never  depart.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  be- 
fore the  coming  of  the  great  Shiloh,  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
it  will  again  and  again  seem  to  depart,  it  shall  not 
utterly  pass  away  till  He  come  and  take  it  up  ;  and  then 
— what?  Depart?  Nay,  verily.  ''His  dominion  shall 
be  an  everlasting  dominion."  It  cannot  depart  now ; 
for  He  has  come  ''  whose  right  it  is  "  (Ezek.  xxi.  27), 
and  ''  to  Him — around  His  sceptre — shall  the  gathering 
of  the  people  be." 

Now,  it  is  obvious  that  the  prophecy  before  us  con- 


Sec  "Ages  before  Moses,"  Lect.  X.I. 


302  The  Mosaic  Era. 

firms  this  natural  interpretation  of  the  words  of  Jacob. 
If  Shiloh's  coming  was  to  be  the  signal  for  the  departing 
of  the  sceptre,  why  should  Balaam  speak  as  if  it 
were  the  rising  of  it  ?  This  would  make  the  one  contra- 
dict the  other.  But  take  the  natural  and  proper  mean- 
ing of  the  earlier  prophecy,  viz.,  that  Shiloh  is  to  wield 
Jacob's  sceptre  for  ever,  and  that  to  Him,  and  around 
His  sceptre,  shall  the  gathering  of  the  nations  be,  —  and 
there  appears  at  once  a  beautiful  harmony  with  the 
prophecy  before  us,  which  leaping  across  the  dark  vista 
of  ages,  declares,  "  there  shall  come  a  Star  out  of  Jacob, 
and  a  Sceptre  shall  rise  out  of  Israel." 

The  work  of  the  coming  King  is  represented  in 
Balaam's  prophecy  as  a  work  of  destruction  ;  He  ''  shall 
smite  "  ^^  and  destroy  "  ;  His  enemies  ''  shall  be  wasted," 
''  shall  perish  forever."  Now  this  is  certainly  a  very 
partial,  not  to  say  questionable,  view  of  the  work  of  Him 
who  came  above  all  to  seek  and  to  save.  But  it  is  that 
part  of  His  work,  that  aspect  of  His  mission,  which  is 
appropriate  to  the  occasion  of  the  prophecy,  and  to  the 
book  in  which  it  finds  a  place.  It  was  quite  a  different 
view  of  his  work  that  was  given  in  the  earlier  proph- 
ecy. There  He  was  spoken  of  as  Shiloh,  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  and  a  picture  was  given  of  the  gathering  around 
His  peaceful  sceptre  of  His  loyal  loving  subjects.  And 
this  was  most  appropriate,  as  coming  from  the  lips  of 
an  aged  saint,  who  was  just  entering  into  his  rest,  and 
as  addressed  to  one  who  was  himself  a  loyal  son  of 
Israel.  But  here,  the  prophecy  is  uttered  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  wicked  hostile  attempt  against  the  chosen  peo- 
ple.    It  is  addressed  to  the  prime  mover  in  that  wicked- 


The  Star  and  Sceptre  Prophecy.         303 

ness,  the  leader  of  the  armies  which  were  marshalled  in 
defiant  array  against  the  hosts  of  the  Lord.  It  was 
uttered  in  full  view  of  the  seats  and  fastnesses  of  those 
numerous  and  powerful  enemies  of  the  Lord's  people, 
whose  countries  were  visible  to  the  keen  eye  of — 

"  That  seer  of  old, 
Who  stood  on  Zophim,  Heaven-controlled." 

Was  it  not  in  these  circumstances  most  natural  and 
appropriate,  that  the  aspect  of  the  King's  reign  toward 
his  eiicmics  should  form  the  subject  of  this  prophecy  ? 

Besides  this,  it  is  important  to  remember  that  when 
translated  into  its  New  Testament  equivalent,  destruc- 
tion by  the  sword  becomes  conversion  by  the  Word, 
which  is  ''  the  sword  of  the  Spirit."  "  Thy  people  shall 
be  willing  in  the  day  of  Thy  power"  —  a  prediction 
which,  you  will  remember,  refers  to  New  Testament 
times,  and  introduces  statements  closely  parallel  to 
those  before  us,  that  He  "  shall  strike  through  kings  in 
the  day  of  his  wrath "  and  "  wound  the  heads  over 
many  countries"  (Ps.  ex.  3,  5,  6) : — 

"  O  Thou,  Most  Mighty,  gird 

Thy  sword  upon  Thy  thigh, 
That  two-edged  blade,  Thy  Word 

By  which  Thy  foes  shall  die. 
To  be  new  bom  beneath  Thine  eye. 

So  perish  all  Thine  enemies  !  " 

When  looked  at  in  this  its  New  Testament  light,  the 
difficulty  naturally  associated  with  the  sanguinary  strain 
of  the  prophecy  disappears. 

This  leads  us  to  the  consideration  of  a  point  of  great 


3C'4  The  Mosaic  Era. 

importance.  The  enemies  named  for  destruction  are 
the  Moabites,  Edomites,  Amalekites,  etc.  Are  we  to 
suppose  that  these  particular  nations,  these  necessarily 
and  these  only,  are  in  the  purview  of  the  prophecy  ? 
Is  there  no  reference,  for  instance,  to  the  Philistines, 
though  they  are  not  naimed  ?  And  is  there  no  reference 
to  the  '^ Philistines"  of  modern  times?  Is  the  prophecy 
dead  and  buried  ?  Having  lived  once  and  served  its 
purpose,  has  it  passed  away,  or  become  at  best  a  fossil, 
which  perchance  may  serve  as  one  of  the  many  illustra- 
tions of  the  hand  of  God  in  history,  as  other  fossils  show 
His  hand  in  nature?  Or  is  it  really  a  part  of  that  Word 
which  ''  liveth  and  abideth  for  ever  "  ?  The  answer  to  this 
question  will  bring  out  a  very  important  principle  in 
the  right  interpretation  of  prophecy,  which  is  often 
overlooked. 

^  The  best  way  to  put  the  question  so  as  to  bring  out 
the  principle  is  this  :  What  was  it  which  determined  the 
selection  of  these  particular  peoples,  enumerated  by 
Balaam  as  those  who  were  to  be  destroyed  by  the  com- 
ing king?  Was  it  that  these,  and  no  others,  were 
actually  to  be  destroyed  ?  Not  at  all.  There  are  many 
prophecies  strictly  parallel  with  this  where  there  is  no 
such  restriction.  It  seems  evident  that  the  names  men- 
tioned find  their  place  in  the  prophecy  simply  because 

/  they  were  suggested  by  the  circumstances ;  because  the 
view  the  seer  had  from  the  top  of  the  mountain  sup- 
plied the  materials  which  gave  form  to  his  inspired  utter- 
ance. He  extended  his  survey  in  all  directions  as  far  as 
his  eye  could  reach,  and  brought  in  every  hostile  power 
that  was  at  all   suggested  by  anything  he  saw  in   the 


The  Star  and  Sceptre  Prophecy.         305 

wide  field  of  his  vision.  And  what  did  this  mean  ?  It 
simply  meant  that  all  the  enemies  of  Israel  and  Israel's 
King  should  ultimately  fall  beneath  His  conquering  sway. 
It  meant  that  no  weapon  formed  against  Zion  should 
prosper  (Isa.  liv.  17);  that  all  kings  should  fall  down 
before  her  King,  and  His  enemies  should  lick  the  dust 
(Ps.  Ixxii.  9,  1 1). 

The  principle  at  the  foundation  of  this  is,  that  the 
prophets  use  language  based  upon  facts  and  images  of 
the  present,  and  therefore  within  the  range  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  people  to  whom  they  spoke,  to  express  great 
truths  of  the  future ;  but  it  is  putting  the  spirit  in  bond- 
age to  the  letter  to  reject  all  application  of  the  prophecy 
beyond  the  mere  letter.  What  if  some  of  these  nations 
had  passed  out  of  existence  before  the  coming  of  the 
sceptred  King  of  whom  the  prophet  speaks?  Would 
the  prophecy  be  falsified  simply  because  that  particular 
nation  was  not  one  of  those  which  He  conquered  in  the 
latter  days?  Not  at  all.  That  only  belongs  to  the  form 
of  the  prophecy.  The  spirit  of  it  is  that  the  Star  out  of 
Jacob,  the  Sceptre  out  of  Israel,  "  He  that  shall  have 
dominion"  (ver.  19),  shall  overcome  all  His  enemies, 
east,  and  west,  and  north,  and  south.  And  this  is  in  full 
harmony  with  what  we  have  found  to  be  the  ultimate 
design  and  grand  idea  of  the  book  of  Numbers.  We 
have,  in  fact,  in  this  last  prophecy  of  Balaam  concerning 
"the  latter  days"  (ver.  14)  another  form  of  the  earlier 
assurance,  "  As  truly  as  I  live,  all  the  earth  shall  be  filled 
with  the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  and  an  anticipation  of  many 
that  are  to  follow,  some  of  which  combine  both  forms 
of  presenting  the  truth ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  second 


3o6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

Psalm :  ''  Ask  of  Me,  and  I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen 
for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  for  thy  possession.  Thou  shalt  break  them  in 
pieces  with  a  rod  of  iron  ;  thou  shalt  dash  them  in 
pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel." 

But  though  the  literal   scope  of   Balaam's   prophecy 
was  more  limited  than  its  actual  range,  it  was  neverthe- 
less very  extensive  indeed.     And  it  is  wonderful  now  to 
look  back  upon  it  in  the  light  of  subsequent  history. 
There  was  first  the  destruction  of  the  neighbouring  na- 
tions, any  one  of  which  might  well  seem  at  the  time 
more  than  a  match  for  the  wandering  Israelites ;   and 
they  were  all  destroyed  in  the  victorious  progress  of  the 
people  that  were  "  not  reckoned  among  the  nations." 
Then  there  was  the  great  eastern  wave  of  conquest,  roll- 
ing westward  from  the  seer's  own  eastern  land,  which 
was  to  carry  away  on  its  surges  not  only  the  Kenites 
and  other  enemies  of  the  chosen  people,  but  the  chosen 
people  themselves :  '^  Nevertheless  the  Kenite  shall  be 
wasted,   until  Asshur   shall   carry  thee   away  captive." 
And  more  wonderful  still,  the  great  western  wave   of 
conquest  which  centuries  later  rolled   eastward   ^'  from 
the  coast  of  Chittim  "  ;  /.  e.,  from  the  direction  of  the 
isles  of  the  sea  which  first  meet  the  eye  as  it  travels 
westward   from    Palestine   toward   the    classic   lands  of 
southern  Europe, — that  great  western  wave  of  conquest 
which  was  to  lay  Assyria  and  all  the  east  at  the  feet  of 
Greece  first,  and  afterwards  of  Rome,  even  t/ia^  comes 
within  the  range  of  the  seer's  far-seeing  eye.     And  not 
only  so,  but  the  overthrow  of  that  great  western  power 


The  Star  and  Sceptre  Prophecy.         307 

itself ;  for  he  ends  by  saying  that  *'  he  also  shall  perish 
for  ever."  Thus  it  is  that  first  the  enemies  of  the  near 
south  and  north,  and  then  the  far  more  formidable  foe 
of  the  remote  east,  and  finally  the  mightiest  and  most 
terrible  antagonist  of  all,  from  the  still  more  distant 
west,  fall  one  after  another  before  the  might  of  the  ris- 
ing Sceptre,  and  their  glories  pale  before  the  rising  of 
''  the  Bright  and  Morning  Star  "  ;  and,  when  the  vision 
closes,  this  glorious  Star  remains  alone  in  view,  this 
mighty  Sceptre  '^  does  all  the  world  command."  And 
"on  His  vesture  and  on  His  thigh"  is  this  name  writ- 
ten :  "  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  !  " 

Finally,  what  encouragement  may  we  derive  from 
this  prophecy  in  the  work  to  which,  as  the  Israel  of 
God,  we  are  called  ?  It  may  seem  at  times  that  the  dif- 
ficulties we  have  to  encounter,  and  the  enemies  that 
counterwork  our  efforts,  make  the  prospect  very  dark. 
But  are  these  enemies  mightier  than  the  giant  empires 
which  rose  in  the  future  before  the  prophetic  eye  of  Ba- 
laam as  he  stood  on  the  top  of  Peor?  What  was  little 
Israel  to  great  Assyria,  or  greater  Greece,  or  Rome  the 
mightiest  of  all?  Yet  where  is  Assyria  now?  Where 
are  the  Greek  and  Roman  empires  now  ?  And  where  is 
the  Star  and  Sceptre  7iow  ?  Is  not  the  Star  brighter  and 
the  Sceptre  mightier  than  it  ever  was  before  ?  And  in 
the  same  way  shall  the  enemies  of  the  truth  in  modern 
times,  near  and  far,  related  and  unrelated,  Romanism, 
ritualism,  rationalism,  infidelity,  intemperance,  vice  in  all 
its  forms — go  down  at  last  before  the  rising  Star  and  the 
all-conquering  Sceptre.     Let  us,  then,  take  courage  in 


3o8  The  Mosaic  Era. 

that  part  of  the  work  that  is  entrusted  to  us.  Let  us  re- 
member that  we  are  most  surely  on  the  winning  side. 
And  let  us  not  be  "  weary  in  well-doing,  for  in  due  sea- 
son we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not "  ;  in  due  season  we 
shall  share  in  the  triumphs  of  the  King. 


XXI. 

THE   SECOND   MUSTER. 

NUMBERS  XXVL— DEUTERONOMY  I.  i. 

WE  are  now  rapidly  approaching  the  close  of  the 
Mosaic  era.  We  are  reminded  of  this  by  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  points  from  which  Balaam  blessed 
the  people  was  Mount  Pisgah.  The  long  journeyings  of 
the  children  of  Israel  are  over ;  the  hard  fighting  is  about 
to  begin.  True,  they  have  already  conquered  Sihon, 
king  of  the  Amorites,  and  Og,  king  of  Bashan  ;  but  these 
were  only  preliminary  engagements  on  the  border  lands. 
The  great  work  which  they  are  called  to  do  is  to  subdue 
the  land  of  promise  on  the  other  side  of  Jordan.  And 
already  that  land  is  in  sight.  It  was  full  in  view  of  Ba- 
laam when  he  pronounced  his  benediction  on  Pisgah ; 
and  in  a  very  few  weeks  Moses  himself  will  ascend  the 
same  mountain  to  view  the  land,  and  die. 

But  before  he  passes  away,  there  are  last  duties  to  dis- 
charge and  last  words  to  speak.  First  among  the  duties 
was  the  numbering  of  the  people  for  the  second  time. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  of  all  the  hosts  that  were 
numbered  at  the  base  of  Mount  Sinai,  only  two  persons 
remain,  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  and  Caleb  the  son  of 
Jephunneh.    It  is  an  entirely  different  army;  and  hence 

(309) 


3IO  The  Mosaic  Era. 

it  was  most  appropriate  that  before  the  Jordan  was 
crossed,  and  the  great  work  of  conquest  began,  they 
should  be  mustered  and  marshalled  as  their  fathers  were. 
As  was  to  be  expected,  the  numbers  were  not  precisely 
the  same  ;  and  yet  the  aggregate  was  so  near  the  old  one, 
thiit  it  was  practically  the  same  force  in  point  of  num- 
bers as  that  which  set  out  from  the  base  of  Sinai  nearly 
forty  years  before.  This  second  census  is  given  in  chap- 
ter xxiv.  In  the  following  chapter  an  interesting  decision 
is  given  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  families  represented 
only  by  daughters,  the  effect  of  which  was  to  give  these 
families  equal  privileges  with  those  enjoyed  by  the  fami- 
lies belonging  to  the  warrior  host. 

The  numbering  over,  and  this  question  settled,  Moses 
is  informed  that  the  day  of  his  departure  is  at  hand 
(xxvii.  12-14)  ;  and  at  once,  without  any  thought  of  him- 
self, he  presents  an  earnest  prayer  that  the  Lord  may 
provide  a  new  shepherd  for  the  sheep  (ver.  15-17).  In 
answer  to  this  prayer,  Joshua,  whose  courage  and  faith- 
fulness had  been  so  conspicuous  on  the  occacion  of  the 
great  defection,  and  who  had  been  Moses'  attendant  in 
some  of  the  most  solemn  acts  of  his  long  ministry,  is  fit- 
ly selected  as  his  successor.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  how- 
ever, that  the  relation  of  the  new  leader  to  God  is  not  so 
intimate  as  had  been  that  of  Moses.  He  was  to  "  stand 
before  Eleazar  the  priest,  who  shall  ask  counsel  for  him 
after  the  judgment  of  Urim  before  the  Lord"  (ver.  21), 
which  is  quite  in  keeping  with  what  is  written  in  Num- 
bers xii.  8  and  in  Deuteronomy  xxxiv.  10. 

The  appropriateness  of  the  ritual  reminders  in  the 
chapters  v/hicli  follow  (xxviii.-xxx.)  will  be  seen  when 


The  SecOxXd  Muster.  311 

we  remember  that,  during* the  wandering  in  the  wilder- 
ness, many  of  the  ordinances  of  the  law  had,  almost  as  a 
matter  of  necessity,  remained  a  mere  letter.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  they  were  framed  with  a  view  to  the  condition 
of  the  people  after  they  should  be  settled  in  the  land  ; 
and  some  of  them  at  least  were  of  such  a  nature  that 
they  could  not  be  observed  in  the  wilderness.  It  was 
quite  appropriate,  then,  that  on  the  eve  of  crossing  the 
Jordan,  the  people  should  be  reminded  of  such  obliga- 
tions, and  that  the  opportunity  should  be  taken  also  for 
making  such  new  appointments  as  the  circumstances 
called  for. 

The  war  against  the  Midianites,  recorded  in  the  thirty- 
first  chapter,  was  evidently  of  a  special  character.  It 
was  laid  upon  Moses  as  a  last  duty  before  he  was 
gathered  unto  his  people  to  "  avenge  the  children  of 
Israel  of  the  Midianites  "  (ver.  2),  or  as  it  is  put  in  verse 
3,  "  avenge  the  Lord  of  Midian."  It  was  not  then  a 
war  of  conquest,  but  a  judicial  punishment  for  the 
terrible  wickedness  of  the  tribe  in  the  matter  of  Beth- 
peor.  And  this  is  the  reason,  no  doubt,  why  the  com- 
mand was  given  to  Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazar  the 
priest,  who  set  out  "  with  the  holy  instruments,  and  the 
trumpets  to  blov/  in  his  hand  "  (ver.  6). 

The  itinerary  in  chapter  xxxiii.  is  of  chief  value  in 
the  efforts  to  fix  the  route  of  the  Israelites  ;  but  the 
difficulty  of  identifying  the  places  renders  the  task  very 
doubtful  and  unsatisfactory.  It  is  specially  interesting 
in  this  respect,  that  in  some  small  measure  it  supplies 
the  great  gap  of  thirty-eight  years  with  a  few  names, 
which    at  all  events  throw   a   light   bridge    across   the 


312  The  Mosaic  Era. 

chasm,  and  suggest  the  comforting  thought  that,  though 
none  of  the  doings  of  the  people  during  these  years 
were  worth  recording,  yet  they  were  never  entirely  for- 
saken or  forgotten  of  the  Lord.  So  far  as  the  men  were 
concerned,  Joshua  and  Caleb  bridge  the  two  generations  ; 
so  far  as  the  history  is  concerned,  these  "journeys  of 
the  children  of  Israel,"  written  out  by  Moses  before  his 
death,  serve  the  same  purpose. 

The  concluding  chapters  of  the  book  are  taken  up 
with  directions  given  through  Moses,  as  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  land.  The  territory  on  this  side  of  Jordan 
which  had  fallen  into  their  hands  through  the  conquest 
of  Sihon  and  Og,  was  given  to  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half 
the  tribe  of  Manasseh,  at  their  own  solicitation  ;  on  con- 
dition, however,  that,  before  they  settle  down,  they 
should  cross  over  with  the  rest  of  the  tribes,  and  take 
their  part  in  the  great  work  which  was  to  be  done  be- 
yond Jordan  (chap,  xxxii.)  The  borders  of  the  land  for 
the  other  nine  and  a  half  tribes  are  marked  out  in  chapter 
xxxiv.,  and  certain  princes  of  each  tribe  appointed  to 
attend  to  the  distribution. 

It  had  been  expressly  arranged  that  the  tribe  of  Levi 
should  have  no  inheritance  in  the  land.  The  service  of 
the  Lord  was  to  be  their  inheritance.  Yet  they  must 
live  som.ewhere.  Hence  the  appointment  of  the  Leviti- 
cal  cities,  forty-eight  in  all,  with  their  suburbs,  selected 
from  all  the  tribes  according  to  their  size  and  wealth. 
Of  these  forty-eight,  six  were  appointed  for  cities  of 
refuge,  three  on  the  east  and  three  on  the  west  of  Jor- 
dan. It  is  thought  that  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews   has  these  cities   in  view  when   he   speaks  of 


The  Second  Muster. 


313 


Christians  having  ''  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  upon  the 
hope  set  before  us  " ;  and  there  are  some  points  of  an- 
alogy between  the  asylum  which  the  man-slayer  found 
in  the  city  of  refuge  that  lay  nearest  him,  and  the  safety 
which  the  sinner  finds  in  Christ  who  is  always  near,  and 
whose  gate  of  mercy  is  ever  open  to  those  who  repent 
and  seek  the  salvation  He  freely  offers. 

The  book  of  Numbers  seems  to  end  abruptly  with  the 
settlement  of  a  side  question,  arising  out  of  the  regula- 
tions in  regard  to  families  represented  by  daughters  only. 
The  question  indeed  is  of  greater  importance  than  it 
seems,  for  it  has  in  it  the  great  principle  of  the  inalien- 
ability of  the  inheritance  of  all  God's  children.  But 
besides  this,  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  is  no  gap 
between  this  book  and  the  one  following.  The  history 
proceeds  right  on.  In  the  end  of  Numbers  we  have 
the  last  acts  of  Moses,  and  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy 
we  have  his  last  words.  It  seems  quite  appropriate, 
then,  that  the  book  of  Numbers  should  have  no  very 
obvious  climax  or  consummation,  but  should  pass  nat- 
urally and  easily  into  the  one  which  follows,  with  nothing 
more  striking  at  its  close  than  the  words  of  the  last 
verse:  '^  These  are  the  commandments  and  the  judg- 
ments which  the  Lord  commanded  by  the  hand  of 
Moses  unto  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  plains  of  Moab 
by  Jordan  near  Jericho." 

In  this  natural  transition  from  the  one  book  to  the 
other,  we  have  a  confirmation  of  the  traditional  view, 
which  after  all  the  attempts  that  have  been  made  in 
recent  years  to  replace  it  by  another  more  agreeable  to 
rationalistic  interpretations,  remains  the  most  natural 
14 


314  The  Mosaic  Era. 

and  the  best  supported,  that  Moses  himself  was  the  au- 
thor of  both  books,  certain  passages  excepted,  notably 
that  which  reports  his  own  death.  But  we  shall  reserve 
what  we  have  to  say  on  this  subject  to  the  next  lecture. 
Observe  only  now,  how  natural  it  was  that,  after  the 
second  numbering  of  the  people,  he  should  a  second 
time  set  before  them  the  main  features  of  that  law 
which  he  had  given  to  the  former  generation  that  were 
gathered  at  the  base  of  Sinai.  The  second  muster  of  the 
end  of  Numbers  prepares  the  way  for  the  second  law  in 
Deuteronomy. 


XXII. 
THE   SECOND   LAW. 

DEUTERONOMY  I.-XXX. 

IT  is  the  eleventh  month  of  the  fortieth  year.  It  is 
the  eleventh  hour  of  the  Mosaic  Era.  The  great 
Lawgiver  and  Leader  is  about  to  be  "  gathered  to  his 
fathers  ";  yet  "his  eye  is  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force 
abated  " ;  and  of  this  he  gives  abundant  evidence  in  the 
three  long  and  spirited  addresses  which  he  delivers  to 
the  people  as  his  parting  charge. 

In  these  addresses  he  urges  the  people,  with  all  the 
force  of  his  mighty  nature,  to  be  mindful  of  the  Lord 
that  has  redeemed  them,  to  be  obedient  to  His  law,  and 
faithful  to  His  covenant.  They  are,  in  fact,  a  powerful 
practical  application  of  the  Law  which  had  been  given  on 
Mount  Sinai.  Hence  the  name  given  to  the  book  which 
records  these  addresses :  "  Deuteronomy,"  the  Second 
Law.  The  name  is  misleading,  if  it  convey  the  impres- 
sion, as  it  does  to  some,  that  it  is  only  a  repetition  of 
what  has  gone  before.  In  substance,  indeed,  it  is  the 
same,  with  some  alterations  and  modifications,  called  for 
by  the  altered  circumstances ;  but  its  form  and  purpose 
are  quite  different.     The  relation  between  the  two  may 

(3T5) 


3i6  The  Mosaic  Era. 

be  illustrated  by  the  difference  between  a  report  and  the 
speech  of  the  mover  of  it.  Both  productions  have 
the  same  substance  ;  the  report  records,  and  the 
speech  illustrates,  the  same  facts ;  yet  the  two  may 
be,  and  ought  to  be,  quite  different.  At  the  same  time, 
each  is  necessary  and  appropriate  in  its  place.  So  is  it 
in  regard  to  the  Law  in  Exodus  and  that  which  is  called 
*'  the  second  Law "  in  Deuteronomy.  The  former  is 
Moses'  report ;  the  latter  is  his  speech  in  urging  its 
adoption.  And  this  accounts  to  a  very  great  degree  for 
the  obvious  difference  in  style. ^^^ 

This  difference  has  been  much  insisted  on  as  a  reason 
for  discrediting  the  Mosaic  authorship  of  Deuteronomy. 
Yet  how  natural  and  even  necessary  was  it  that  there 
should  be  just  such  variation.  When  a  spirited  secretary 
follows  up  his  report  with  a  speech  to  strengthen  it,  a 
similar  difference  is  always  discernible.  But  if  we  were 
to  apply  the  reasoning  of  some  of  our  critical  doubters, 
we  should  have  to  conclude,  either  that  the  secretary 
had  had  some  one  else  to  write  the  report,  or  that  he 
was  delivering  somebody  else's  speech.  Even  if  the  ad- 
dresses in  Deuteronomy  had  been  delivered  immediately 
after  the  giving  of  the  Law  in  Sinai,  we  should  have  ex- 
pected diversity  in  style ;  much  more  when  an  interval 
of  nearly  forty  years  had  elapsed. 

The  critical  questions  which  concern  the  book  before 
us  lie  out  of  the  scope  of  these  lectures.  Lideed,  so 
large  has  the  subject  of  the  literary  criticism  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch become,  that  it  demands  separate  treatment  to 
deal  with  it  at  all  satisfactorily  ;  and  to  attempt  to  dis- 
pose   of  great    questions    in  a  few    sentences  here  and 


The  Second  Law.  317 

there,  in  a  volume  the  object  of  which  is  expository  and 
practical,  would  be  to  manifest  an  entire  want  of  appre- 
ciation of  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  subject. 
But  inasmuch  as  a  reference  to  the  peculiar  style  of 
Deuteronomy  has  suggested  the  question  of  its  author- 
ship, it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  make  the  general  re- 
mark, that  while  there  are  unquestionable  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  the  time-honoured  belief,  these  do  not,  when 
properly  examined,  appear  to  be  nearly  so  great  as  those 
which  are  encountered  on  any  other  supposition  as  to 
date  or  authorship. 

As  to  difficulties  arising  from  particular  passages,  they 
have,  in  the  first  place,  been  greatly  exaggerated ;  and, 
in  the  second  place,  it  has  been  often  forgotten  that  the 
belief  in  the  Mosaic  authorship  does  not  exclude  the 
supposition  that  certain  passages  may  have  been  added 
by  another  hand  at  a  later  date;  very  much  in  the  same 
way  as  when  a  new  edition  of  some  standard  author  is 
issued,  it  may  have,  in  addition  to  the  old  text,  new 
notes  by  the  editor.  And  then,  in  regard  to  the  greater 
reasons  that  are  assigned  by  the  negative  critics  for  de- 
nying the  Mosaic  authorship,  it  will  be  found  that  they 
resolve  themselves  into  the  dogmatic  bias  against  the 
supernatural  which  is  common  to  them  all.  When,  for 
example,  we  are  told  that  the  view  of  the  Law  as  given 
in  Deuteronomy  could  not  have  been  the  product  of 
that  early  age,  we  are  not  careful  to  contradict  the  state- 
ment. We  might,  indeed,  say  that  it  is  a  very  difficult 
thing  to  tell  certainly  what  could  or  could  not  be  the 
product  of  any  particular  age.  But  what  if  we  assent  to 
the  criticism  ?     What  if  we  join  with  the  objector,  and 


3i8  The  Mosaic  Era. 

say,  Most  certainly  these  wonderful  addresses  in  Deute- 
ronomy could  not  have  been  the  product  of  that  early 
age?  The  question  would  still  remain,  as  to  what  in- 
ference should  be  drawn  from  this ;  and  here,  as  there, 
the  dogmatic  position  would  determine  the  issue.  The 
inference  of  the  man  who  has  determined  that  everything 
which  savours  of  the  supernatural  must  be  carefully  ex- 
cluded, would  be  that,  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  have 
been  the  product  of  that  age,  they  must  have  been  the 
production  of  a  later  age:  the  inference  of  the  man  who 
has  no  such  prejudice  to  fetter  his  decision,  would  be 
that,  inasmuch  as  they  could  not  have  been  the  product 
of  the  age,  they  may  have  come  by  "the  inspiration  of 
the  Almighty." 

The  fact  is,  that  the  great  difficulty  which  the  de- 
structive critics  have  to  contend  with,  is  the  necessity 
under  which  they  put  themselves  of  leaving  out  God 
from  all  their  reasonings.  If  they  would  only  admit  His 
presence  and  His  freedom  of  action,  most  of  their  diffi- 
culties would  disappear.  But  they  will  not  believe  in 
Him.  It  is,  after  all,  the  same  fault  as  that  which  ex- 
cluded the  children  of  Israel  from  the  promised  land. 
Look  at  their  reasonings  on  the  report  of  the  spies. 
They  were  thoroughly  sound  and  sensible  from  a  nat- 
uralistic standpoint.  The  single  vice  was  the  leaving 
the  word  and  power  of  God  entirely  out  of  considera- 
tion. '^  So  we  see  that  they  could  not  enter  in  because 
of  unbelief."  The  fate  of  the  destructive  critics  is  very 
similar.  Rejecting  God  and  His  word,  they  are  left  to 
wander  in  the  dreary,  profitless  waste  of  a  criticism  which 
is  ever  returning  on  its  own  footsteps,  crossing  its  past 


The  Second  Law.  319 

decisions,  and  never  entering  into  any  land  that  can  sup- 
port it  more  than  a  year  or  two  at  most. 

The  first  of  the  three  addresses  occupies  the  first  four 
chapters  of  the  book.  It  dwells  on  the  historical  facts 
of  the  journey  to  the  point  which  the  people  had  now 
reached.  From  a  survey  of  the  past,  Moses  shows  them, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  all  the  sorrow  and  unprofitableness 
of  the  years  that  have  gone,  since  God  revealed  Himself 
on  Sinai,  and  made  a  covenant  with  their  fathers  there, 
have  been  the  result  of  their  unbelief  in  Him  and  un- 
faithfulness to  the  covenant ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  their  reaching  their  present  position  at  all,  is  due  to 
the  faithful  dealing  and  merciful  guidance  of  the  Lord. 
And  on  this,  as  a  foundation,  he  urges,  in  the  close  of 
the  address  (chap,  iv.),  in  the  most  earnest  and  eloquent 
language,  faithfulness  and  obedience  in  the  years  that 
are  to  come. 

The  second  address  is  much  the  longest  of  the  three 
(chap,  v.-xxvi.)  As  the  first  is  based  on  the  history 
and  experience  of  the  people,  this  one  is  founded  on  the 
Law,  and  therefore  it  may  be  considered  as  the  Deute- 
ronomy proper.  It  begins  with  a  rehearsal  of  the  solemn 
transactions  of  the  first  great  day  at  Sinai,  and  then  pro- 
ceeds to  the  exposition  and  application  of  the  Law,  the 
spirit  and  method  of  which  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
quotation  of  a  short  passage  in  the  exordium.  "  Hear, 
O  Israel :  The  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord :  And  thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might.  And  these 
words,  which  I  command  thee  this  day,  shall  be  in  thine 
heart :  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto  thy 


320  The  Mosaic  Era. 

children,  and  shall  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in 
thine  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and 
when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up.  And 
thou  shalt  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  thine  hand,  and 
they  shall  be  as  frontlets  between  thine  eyes.  And  thou 
shalt  write  them  upon  the  posts  of  thy  house,  and  on 
thy  gates.  And  it  shall  be,  when  the  Lord  thy  God 
shall  have  brought  thee  into  the  land  which  He  sware 
unto  thy  fathers,  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  to 
give  thee  great  and  goodly  cities,  which  thou  buildedst 
not,  and  houses  full  of  all  good  things,  which  thou  filledst 
not,  and  wells  digged,  which  thou  diggedst  not,  vineyards 
and  olive-trees,  which  thou  plantedst  not ;  when  thou 
shalt  have  eaten  and  be  full ;  then  beware  lest  thou  for- 
get the  Lord,  which  brought  thee  forth  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage"  (chap.  vi.  4-12). 

One  striking  feature  of  '^  the  second  law  "  is  suggested 
by  the  last  sentence  of  the  above  quotation  :  ''  when  the 
Lo7'd  tJiy  God  shall  have  brougJit  thee  into  the  land,''  etc. 
This  is  explained  by  the  peculiar  position  of  Moses. 
The  legislation  of  which  he  had  been  the  channel  had 
specially  in  view  the  ultimate  settlement  of  the  people 
in  the  land.  Much  of  it  was  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
could  not  come  into  operation  until  after  the  settlement. 
Yet,  on  account  of  his  failure  at  Kadesh-Meribah,  and 
no  doubt  for  other  wise  reasons  besides,  the  great  law- 
giver was  not  to  b€  permitted  to  enter  the  land.  That 
this  was  a  very  great  disappointment  to  him  is  evident 
from  what  he  tells  the  people  in  referring  to  it  in  his  first 
address  (iii.  23-27).  His  heart  was  set  upon  the  land  of 
promise  ;  and  yet  his  foot  could  not  be  set  in  it,  nor  his 


The  Second  Law.  321 

voice  heard  within  its  sacred  boundaries.  How  exceed- 
ingly natural,  then,  that  in  this  address  he  should  be 
continually  anticipating  the  time  when  they  should  en- 
ter in,  and  that  he  should,  as  far  as  possible,  say  by  an- 
ticipation what  he  would  have  said  had  not  the  sentence 
been  pronounced  which  deprived  him  of  the  longed-for 
opportunity. 

And  so  it  comes  to  pass  that  this  closing  book  of 
Moses  has  a  distinctly  prophetic  aspect,  not  merely  in 
the  sense  in  which  Exodus  itself  is  prophetical,  namely, 
as  revealing  the  Divine  will,  but  in  the  ordinary  sense, 
as  carrying  the  mind  onwards  to  events  which  are  still  in 
the  future.  In  this  aspect  it  occupies  a  position  in  the 
Pentateuch  very  much  like  that  of  Daniel  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  Apocalypse  in  the  New.  And  here 
we  can  see  how  truly  barbarous  it  is  to  sever  this  book 
from  the  organism  to  which  it  belongs.  As  we  have  it, 
the  Pentateuch  is  rounded  and  complete ;  it  is  a  living 
unity ;  and  to  separate  its  parts  is  to  mutilate  and  man- 
gle it.  In  Genesis  we  have  the  soil  and  the  seed  ;  in  the 
historical  part  of  Exodus  we  have  the  stem  ;  in  the  pro- 
phetical portion  of  the  same  book,  in  the  priestly  book 
of  Leviticus,  and  in  the  kingly  book  of  Numbers,  we 
have  the  threefold  development  of  the  single  stem  as  it 
branches  out  into  three  main  limbs,  one  going  right  up 
from  the  central  stem,  and  therefore  finding  a  place  in 
the  same  book  of  Exodus,  and  the  other  two  spreading 
out  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left ;  in  the  closing 
book  we  have  the  blossoms  and  the  fruit,  not,  however, 
actually  gathered,  for  it  is  a  prophetic  book,  but  the 
thought  and  idea  of  that  fruit  in  the  mind  of  Moses, 

14* 


322  The  Mosaic  Era. 

who  looked  forward  to  the  gathering  of  it  after  the  peo- 
pie  had  come  into  the  land  to  which  the  Lord  was  lead- 
ing them. 

Though  "  the  near  horizon  "  of  the  entrance  into  the 
land  was  that  which  Moses  had  immediately  in  view  in 
the  delivery  of  this  long  address,  yet  at  times  he  catches 
a  glimpse  of  a  distant  horizon,  and  speaks  of  far  better 
things  to  come.  The  most  remarkable  instance  of  this 
is  in  the  eighteenth  chapter,  where,  after  warning  the 
people  against  "  hearkening  to  diviners,"  of  whom  there 
would  be  an  abundance  when  they  came  into  the  land, 
he  utters  this  remarkable  prophecy :  ''  The  Lord  thy 
God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  Prophet  from  the  midst  of 
thee,  of  thy  brethren,  like  unto  me ;  unto  Him  ye  shall 
hearken  ;  according  to  all  that  thou  desiredst  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  in  Horeb  in  the  day  of  the  assembly,  say- 
ing: Let  me  not  hear  again  the  voice  of  the  Lord  my 
God,  neither  let  me  see  this  great  fire  any  more,  that  I 
die  not.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me :  They  have  well 
spoken  that  which  they  have  spoken.  I  will  raise  them 
up  a  Prophet  from  among  their  brethren  like  unto  thee, 
and  I  will  put  my  words  in  His  mouth ;  and  He  shall 
speak  unto  them  all  that  I  shall  command  Him "  ; — a 
prophecy  which  was  fulfilled  in  a  very  subordinate  sense 
in  the  line  of  prophets  from  Samuel  onwards,  whom  the 
Lord  raised  up  in  Israel,  but  which  received  its  final  fulfil- 
ment on  that  great  day  when,  after  the  lapse  of  centuries, 
Moses  at  last  visited  the  land  of  promise — on  that  great 
day  when,  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  the  two  great 
prophets  of  the  old  covenant  "  appeared  in  glory  "  with 
the  greater  Prophet  of  the  new.     You  remember  how. 


The  Second  Law.  323 

as  the  disciples  gazed,  "  a  bright  cloud  overshadowed  " 
Moses  and  Elias,  and  Jesus  was  left  *' alone  "  ;  and  from 
the  cloud  there  came  a  voice,  "  This  is  My  beloved  Son, 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  ;  hear  ye  hiinJ'  Thus  glori- 
ously is  the  ancient  prophecy  fulfilled,  "  The  Lord  thy 
God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  Prophet  from  the  midst  of 
thee,  of  thy  brethren,  like  unto  Me  ;  tmto  Him  ye  shall 
hearken^  Thus  does  the  lawgiver  and  prophet  of  the 
ancient  Israel,  whose  word  has  been  supreme  for  centuries, 
gracefully  give  way  to  the  Lawgiver  and  Prophet  of  ''  the 
Israel  of  God."  Thus  does  the  mediator  of  the  old  cove- 
nant wrap  himself  in  the  "  bright  cloud  "  of  the  heavenly 
''  glory,"  and  leave  "  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  cove- 
nant," ''  alone,"  as  the  great  Prophet  of  humanity. 

The  third  address  is  comparatively  brief  (xxvii.  to 
XXX.) ;  and  just  as  the  first  address  was  founded  upon  the 
revelation  of  God,  which  was  manifest  in  all  the  way  by 
which  He  had  led  the  people,  and  the  second  upon  the 
law  as  given  from  the  Mount,  so  the  third  was  based 
upon  the  covenant  transaction  which  followed  the  giving 
of  the  Decalogue  with  the  "  statutes  and  judgments." 
As  the  first  law  had  been  followed  by  a  solemn  ratifica- 
tion of  the  covenant  when  the  altar  and  the  twelve  pillars 
were  erected  at  the  base  of  Sinai,  so  Moses  gave  direc- 
tions for  a  still  more  solemn  ratification  when  they  should 
come  into  the  land.  The  very  day  they  crossed  the  Jordan 
they  were  to  *'set  up  great  stones,  and  plaister  them 
with  plaister,  and  write  upon  them  all  the  words  of  this 
law"  (xxvii.  2,  3).  These  stones  were  afterwards  to  be 
'•'  set  up  in  Mount  Ebal "  (ver.  4),  and  an  altar  built 
there,  and  burnt-offerings  and  peace-offerings  presented. 


324  The  Mosaic  Era. 

When  the  people  were  all  gathered  together,  a  series  of 
blessings  and  curses, — blessings  for  obedience,  and  curses 
for  disobedience, — were  to  be  pronounced  in  the  most 
solemn  manner,  to  which  ''all  the  people  must  say, 
Amen ";  and  in  relation  to  this  we  are  told :  "  These 
are  the  words  of  the  covenant  which  the  Lord  com- 
manded Moses  to  make  with  the  children  of  Israel  in 
the  land  of  Moab,  beside  the  covenant  which  he  made 
with  them  in  Horeb  "  (xxix.  i). 

In  this  address  also  the  prophet's  eye  pierces  to  a 
horizon  far  more  distant  than  that  which  confines,  in 
the  main,  the  field  of  his  vision.  But  here  it  is  a  very 
different  scene  which  meets  his  gaze.  When  speaking 
of  the  Law,  that  w^hich  the  Lord  gave,  he  looks  forward, 
and  his  prophetic  eye  rests  upon  the  great  Gift  which 
God  has  made  to  His  people  in  the  future,  the  gift  of 
His  Son  to  be  the  Prophet  of  humanity,  and  the  "  Me- 
diator between  God  and  man."  But  when  speaking  of 
the  Covenant,  that  which  involved  the  people's  future, 
his  eye  rests  upon  the  sad  prospect  of  coming  days  of 
unfaithfulness  and  disobedience ;  and  his  solemn  warn- 
ings almost  insensibly  pass  into  the  form  of  terrible 
prophecies  of  coming  woe.  And  yet  he  cannot  pro- 
nounce the  judgment  without  speaking  of  the  mercy 
which  there  is  beyond  in  the  still  more  distant  future. 
"  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  all  these  things  are 
come  upon  thee,  ....  and  thou  shalt  call  them  to 
mind  among  all  the  nations,  whither  the  Lord  thy  God 
hath  driven  thee,  and  shalt  return  unto  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  shalt  obey  His  voice  according  to  all  that  I 
command  thee  this    day,  thou    and    thy    children,  with 


The  Second  Law.  325 

all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul ;  that  then  the  Lord 
thy  God  will  turn  thy  captivity,  and  have  compassion 
upon  thee,  and  will  return  and  gather  thee  from  all  the 
nations,  whither  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  scattered  thee  " 
(xxx.  1-3).  And  then  follows  a  series  of  '^  exceeding 
great  and  precious  promises,"  closing  with  a  repetition 
of  the  earnest  warning,  and  this  intense  protestation: 
'*  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  record  this  day  against  you, 
that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death,  blessing  and 
cursing ;  therefore  choose  life,  that  both  thou  and  thy 
seed  may  live;  that  thou  mayest  serve  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  that  thou  mayest  obey  His  voice,  and  that 
thou  mayest  cleave  unto  Him ;  for  He  is  thy  life,  and 
the  length  of  thy  days ;  that  thou  mayest  dwell  in  the 
land  which  the  Lord  sware  unto  thy  fathers,  to  Abra- 
ham, to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  to  give  them  "  (xxx.  19,  20). 


fc> 


XXIII. 
THE  DYING  SONG  OF  MOSES. 

DEUTERONOMY  XXXI.,  XXXII. 

NOTHING  now  remains  but  a  few  parting  words, 
recorded  in  the  chapters  which  follow  (xxxi.- 
xxxiii.),  the  most  important  being  what  may  be  called 
^'  the  dying  song  of  Moses."  In  chapter  thirty-first  the 
aged  prophet  announces  his  approaching  death,  adding 
appropriate  encouragements  and  warnings  ;  immediately 
after  which  he  receives  a  commission  to  write  a  son 
and  teach  it  to  the  children  of  Israel  (ver.  19).  The 
song  is  given  in  full  in  the  thirty-second  chapter.  It  is 
one  of  surpassing  beauty  and  poetic  power,  full  of 
grandeur  and  sublimity. 

The  subject  of  the  song  is,  Jehovah  and  His  people ; 
and  the  substance  of  it  is  given  in  verses  3-6 :  "  I  will 
publish  the  name  of  the  Lord :  ascribe  ye  greatness 
unto  our  God.  He  is  the  Rock,  His  work  is  perfect : 
for  all  His  ways  are  judgment  :  a  God  of  truth  and  with- 
out iniquity,  just  and  right  is  He.  They  have  corrupted 
themselves,  their  spot  is  not  the  spot  of  His  children  : 
they  are  a  perverse  and  crooked  generation.  Do  ye 
thus  requite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  people  and  unwise?  is 
(326) 


The  Dying  Song  of  Moses.  327 

not  He  thy  Father  that  hath  bought  thee  ?  hath  He  not 
made  thee,  and  estabHshed  thee?"  The  faithfulness  of 
Jehovah,  the  God  of  truth,  the  Rock  of  salvation  ;  and 
the  unfaithfulness  of  His  fickle  and  foolish  people, — 
such  are  clearly  to  be  the  main  ideas  of  the  song.  In 
the  after-development  there  are  three  things  very  pow- 
erfully set  forth. 

I.  What  Israel  oivcs  to  God  (ver.  7-14).  Here  the  great 
things  which  God  had  done  for  them  are  brought  out  in 
a  few  bold  delineations,  mingling  strength  and  pathos  in 
a  marvellous  degree.  He  shows  how  from  the  begin- 
ning God  had  set  His  regardful  eyes  upon  them,  how  He 
had  guided  the  history  of  all  other  nations  in  a  manner 
subservient  to  their  welfare,  making  them  and  their 
development  the  historic  centre  of  the  ancient  world  ; 
how  He  had  found  them  poor,  helpless  wanderers  in  the 
wilderness,  had  formed  them  into  a  people  there, — His 
own  people,  whom  He  had  fed  and  led  and  trained  as  a 
tender  mother  might, —  and  at  last  brought  into  the 
goodly  land  He  had  promised  them,  exalting  them  high 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  giving  them  all 
things  richly  to  enjoy. 

n.  How  will  Israel  pay  tJie  debt?  To  this  question 
the  prophetic  song  gives  a  sad  answer.  Israel  will  pay 
her  debt  of  gratitude  to  God  by  base  ingratitude — be- 
ginning with  self-indulgence,  and  going  on  to  neglect  of 
Jehovah  and  the  worship  of  strange  gods.  Such  is  the 
sad  prophetic  picture  in  verses  15-18.  Thus  Israel  re- 
quites God.     And  now 

III.  How  will  God  requite  Israel?  Almost  all  that 
remains  of  the  song  is  taken  up  with  the  fearful  answer 


328  The  Mosaic  Era. 

to  this  question,  setting  forth  how  God  takes  notice  of 
it  first,  and  is  filled  with  indignation ;  how  He  hides 
His  face  and  leaves  His  people  to  themselves  and  to  the 
bitter  fruits  of  their  ingratitude ;  how  He  takes  their 
precious  privileges  from  them,  and  gives  them  to 
those  who  till  then  had  been  "  no  people  "  ;  how,  finally, 
He  lets  loose  on  them  all  the  fury  of  His  vengeance,  and 
utterly  destroys  their  place  and  nation. 

All  this  we  find  realized  in  history.  "  The  sin  of 
Judah,"  and  their  punishment  too,  have  been  "  written 
with  a  pen  of  iron  and  with  the  point  of  a  diamond  " 
(Jer.  xvii.  i).  Do  you  ask  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  first 
part  of  the  threatening,  when  God  hides  His  face  from 
His  people  and  leaves  them  to  the  multiplied  miseries 
and  distresses  which  spring  from  their  evil  courses? 
You  find  it  all  through  the  Old  Testament  history.  Do 
you  ask  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  second  part  of  the 
threatening,  viz.,  the  calling  in  of  a  people  that  had  been 
*'  no  people,"  while  t/iey  were  cast  out  with  terrible 
judgments?  Is  it  not  found  in  the  times  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  new  covenant,  the  most  prominent 
feature  of  which  is  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  ?  And 
how  they  w^ere  provoked  to  jealousy  by  it  !  The  entire 
history  of  the  founding  of  the  Christian  Church,  espe- 
cially in  the  light  in  which  it  is  put  by  the  great  apostle, 
who  again  and  again  quotes  the  words  of  this  song  in 
connection  with  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,  is  a  fulfil- 
ment of  these  warning  words  of  Moses  :  "  They  have 
moved  Me  to  jealousy  with  that  which  is  not  God  ; 
they  have  provoked  Me  to  anger  with  their  vanities  : 
and  I  will  move  them  to  jealousy  with  those  which  are 


The  Dying  Song  of  Moses.  329 

not   a  people  ;    I   will   provoke  them   to   anger  with   a 
foolish  nation  "  (Deut.  xxxii.  21).     And  when  you  think 
of  the  judgment  that  so  soon  after  came  upon  the  Jews, 
ending  in  the  disastrous  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and 
overthrow    of    the   Jewish    state,   you    see    that    never 
was  prophecy  more  signally  fulfilled,  than  was  this  song 
of  judgment  which  Moses  taught  the  children  of  Israel 
on  his  way  to  Mount  Nebo  to  die.     Is  not  the  Word  of 
God  "  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than   any  two- 
edged  sword  "  ?     Is  not  that  a  living  sharpness  indeed, 
which   is    not   dulled   by  the  lapse   of  fifteen   hundred 
years  ?    During  this  long  interval  the  witness  of  "  Moses 
the  man  of  God  "  stands  against  Israel.     During  all  this 
time  the   dark  cloud   which   rose   first,    ^Mike   a   man's 
hand,"  above  the  mountains  of  Abarim,  hung  over  the 
chosen  people.     But  the  end  came  at  last,  and  not  a 
word    of    the  witness   failed;    and    the   long- gathering 
storm-cloud  spared  not  one  volley  of  its  thunder  nor  one 
stroke  of  its  forked  lio^htnine. 

All  this  is  dark— very  dark;  but  it  is  dark  only  to 
those  who  "  forsake  God,  and  lightly  esteem  the  Rock 
of  their  salvation"  (ver.  15).  The  very  faithfulness  of 
God  to  His  most  terrible  threatenings  is  an  additional 
reason  why  those  who  believe  in  Him  should  exercise 
most  unshaken  confidence  in  Him.  If  He  whose  name 
is  Jehovah,  "  the  God  of  salvation,"  whose  nature  and 
whose  name  is  "  Love,"  is  inflexible  in  the  fulfilment  of 
His  most  terrible  threatenings,  how  much  more  have  we 
reason  to  suppose  that  He  will  be  faithful  to  His  most 
gracious  promises  !  However  much,  then,  we  mourn 
for  the  unfaithfulness  of    the  people,  we  who   believe 


330  The  Mosaic  Era. 

have  every  reason  to  exult  in  the  faithfulness  of  God, 
and,  in  our  enthusiasm,  to  say  with  '^  Moses  the  man  of 
God,"  "  He  is  the  Rock,  His  work  is  perfect  :  for  all  His 
ways  are  judgment :  a  God  of  truth  and  without  iniquity, 
just  and  right  is  He  "  (ver.  4).  "He  is  the  Rock!'  Just 
think  of  the  light  and  the  strength  there  are  In  this 
thought,  which  is  repeated  again  and  again  and  again  up  to 
nine  times,  in  this  dying  song  of  Moses.  What  a  history 
there  is  in  this  single  thought  ;  what  a  splendid  relic  of 
the  rocky  desert  !  '^  In  this  dying  song  of  Moses  we 
have  the  original  of  all  those  noble  passages  in  psalms 
and  hymns  of  believing  Israelites  in  ancient  times,  and 
believing  Gentiles  of  all  nations  in  these  later  days, 
which  represent  Jehovah  as  ''  the  Rock,"  "  the  Rock  of 
Ages,"  ''  the  Rock  of  our  Salvation."  Truly  there  is 
light  here  amid  the  darkness  of  this  dying  song. 

Then,  too,  if  you  examine  the  song  throughout,  you 
will  find  it  full  of  evidence  of  the  goodness  and  long- 
suffering  and  tender  mercy  of  the  Lord.  Though  there 
is  inflexible  justice,  both  in  the  prophecy  itself  and  in  its 
fulfilment,  yet  throughout  all  it  is  evident  that  He  speaks 
and  acts,  who  "delighteth  not  in  the  death  of  him  that 
dieth  "  ;  who  "  willeth  not  that  any  should  perish,  but 
that  all  should  turn  unto  Him  and  live."  Take  as  a 
specimen  these  words,  coming  in  the  midst  of  most  ter- 
rible threatenings,  "  O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they 
understood  this,  that  they  would  consider  their  latter 
end  !  How  should  one  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put 
ten  thousand  to  flight,  except  their  Rock  had  sold  them, 


See  Stanley's  "Jewish  Church,"  vol.  i.,  p.  219. 


The  Dying  Song  of  Moses.  331 

and  the  Lord  had  shut  them  up  ?  For  their  rock  is  not 
as  our  Rock,  even  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges  " 
(ver.  29-31).  And  then,  who  can  fail  to  perceive  the 
brightness  at  the  close,  when  the  seer's  wonderful  pro- 
phetic eye  takes  within  its  mighty  sweep  not  only  "  the 
bringing  in  of  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles,"  but  the 
restoration  of  the  Jews  after  their  long  dispersion?  You 
remember  these  noble  words  of  "the  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,"  "  I  say,  then.  Have  they,"  that  is  the  Jews, 
"stumbled  that  they  should  fall?  God  forbid;  but 
rather  through  their  fall  salvation  is  come  unto  the  Gen- 
tiles, for  to  provoke  them  to  jealousy.  Now  if  the  fall 
of  them  be  the  riches  of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing 
of  them  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles,  how  much  more 
their  fulness?  For  if  the  casting  away  of  them  be  the 
reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of  them 
be  but  life  from  the  dead?"  There  is  the  fully  developed 
doctrine  ;  but  we  have  the  germ  of  it  all  in  the  magnifi- 
cent close  of  this  old  song :  "  Rejoice,  O  ye  Gentiles, 
with  His  people  ;  for  He  will  avenge  the  blood  of  His 
servants,  and  will  render  vengeance  to  His  adversaries, 
and  will  be  merciful  unto  His  land  and  to  His  people" 
(ver.  43).  Thus  it  is  that,  after  all,  "  mercy  rejoices 
against  judgment,"  light  prevails  over  darkness,  and 
"  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  When  we  think  of 
all  this,  we  need  not  wonder  that  Moses  should  open 
this  song  with  an  exordium  which,  to  a  superficial  reader, 
seems  strangely  out  of  character  with  the  dark  and  dread- 
ful contents  of  it :  "  My  doctrine  shall  drop  as  the  rain, 
my  speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew,  as  the  small  rain  upon 
the  tender  herb,  and  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass" 


332  The  Mosaic  Era. 

(ver.  2).  And  again,  when  we  think  of  the  vast  issues 
which  it  contemplates,  and  the  glorious  results  it  fore- 
shadows, we  can  enter  into  the  enthusiasm  of  his  soul 
when  he  first  opens  his  mouth  to  speak  :  '^  Give  ear,  O 
ye  heavens,  and  I  will  speak  ;  and  hear,  O  earth,  the 
words  of  my  mouth"  (ver  i).  It  reminds  us  of  the  enthu- 
siastic words  of  ''the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles"  when 
the  same  panorama  passed  before  his  mind,  and  he  con- 
cluded his  lofty  argument  thus  :  "  O  the  depth  of  the 
riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  !  How 
unsearchable  are  His  judgments,  and  His  ways  past  find- 
ing out  !  For  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord  ? 
or  who  hath  been  His  counsellor?  Or  who  hath  first 
given  to  Him,  and  it  shall  be  recompensed  unto  him 
again  ?  " 

We  have  looked  at  this  song  as  a  witness  against 
Israel.  This  was  doubtless  its  original  design  ;  but  its 
scope  is  far  wider.  These  things  are  "  written  for  our 
learning"  too.  This  song  was  written  for  a  witness 
against  all  who  enjoy  Israel's  privileges,  and  follow 
Israel's  sins.  It  has  passed  into  a  proverb  that  ''  history 
repeats  itself  "  ;  and  we  feel  that  this  is  true  of  the  his- 
tory which  lies  within  the  compass  of  this  song.  When 
we  take  the  widest  compass  of  the  song,  there  can,  in- 
deed, be  no  repetition  ;  for,  as  we  have  seen,  it  sweeps 
forward,  at  the  close,  to  the  grand  consummation  of 
God's  Providential  plan.  But  so  far  as  the  privileges,  the 
neglect,  and  the  punishment  of  God's  ancient  people  are 
concerned,  it  is  but  too  likely  that  its  counterpart  may 
be  found  among  God's  modern  people. 

Even  among  the  Gentiles,  though  all  are  alike  wel- 


The  Dying  Song  of  Moses.  333 

come,  and  exclusive  privileges  are  now  done  away  en- 
tirely in  Christ  Jesus,  there  have  been  and  are  those  who 
are  far  in  advance  of  others  in  respect  to  the  advantages 
they  enjoy.  First  came  the  Greek  and  Latin  races, 
united  in  the  mighty  Roman  empire.  To  them  first, 
among  the  Gentiles,  the  Gospel  was  preached  ;  and  by 
them  first,  as  a  nation  and  race,  was  the  Gospel  received. 
Three  hundred  years  had  not  passed  away  from  the 
death  of  "Jesus  of  Nazareth"  till  the  faith  of  "that 
same  Jesus  "  was  the  established  religion  of  the  Roman 
empire ;  and  not  long  thereafter  the  privileges  of  the 
Gospel  were  within  reach  of  almost  the  whole  of  that 
vast  population.  In  these  times  God  "  made  His  people 
to  ride  on  the  high  places  of  the  earth  "  ;  they  had 
"  butter  of  kine,  and  milk  of  sheep,  with  fat  of  lambs," 
and  everything,  in  fact,  that  wealth  could  purchase. 
These  were  the  times  when  even  a  Roman  Emperor 
found  it  necessary,  at  the  bidding  of  a  Christian  Bishop, 
to  do  public  penance  in  penitential  robes,  and  was  after- 
wards found  humbly  soliciting  from  his  spiritual  superior, 
with  sighs  and  tears,  his  restoration  to  the  communion 
of  the  Church  ;  a  request  which  the  haughty  bishop  was 
pleased  to  grant  only  after  eight  months'  probation. 
And  though  this  humiliation  of  the  great  Theodosius 
before  the  greater  Ambrose  of  Milan  was  something  ex- 
traordinary even  then  ;  yet  the  fact  that  such  a  thing  was 
possible  at  all,  shows  to  what  a  height  of  power  and  in- 
fluence the  Christian  Church  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
races  was  raised  in  those  times  in  the  providence  of  God. 
What  a  change  from  the  martyr  days,  the  days  of  hiding 
in  the  catacombs  !     Was  it  not  as  true  of  the  Christians 


334  The  Mosaic  Era. 

of  the  Roman  empire  as  it  was  of  ancient  Israel,  that 
God  had  '*  found  them  in  a  desert  land,"  had  '^  led  them 
about,"  had  "kept  them  as  the  apple  of  His  eye,"  and 
had  at  last  "  made  them  ride  upon  the  high  places  of 
the  earth,"  and  given  them  to  "  eat  the  increase  of  the 
fields"? 

Well,  how  did  the  favoured  people  then  pay  their  debt 
of  gratitude  ?  Was  it  not  the  old  story  over  again  ? 
"  Jeshurun  waxed  fat  and  kicked."  They  "  waxed  fat, 
grew  thick,  were  covered  with  fatness ;  then  they  forsook 
God,  and  lightly  esteemed  the  Rock  of  their  salvation." 
They  became  self-indulgent,  "  earthly,  sensual,  devilish." 
Corruption  of  manners  and  corruption  of  doctrine  set  in 
"  like  a  flood  "  ;  they  turned  to  "strange  gods";  they 
worshipped  saints  and  relics,  and  bowed  down  to  images; 
they  adored  the  consecrated  wafer.  The  very  light  that 
was  in  them  became  darkness,  and  "  how  great  was  that 
darkness ! " 

And  as,  before,  the  heritage  of  truth  and  blessing  had 
passed  from  the  Jew  to  the  Gentile,  so  now  it  passed 
from  the  Roman  to  the  Teuton.  These  Teutonic  races 
of  the  north  had  been  "  no  people  "  in  the  eyes  of  the 
empire  of  Rome.  They  had  been  known  only  as  bar- 
barians, both  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  tongues.  Yet  these 
"  no  people,"  these  "  barbarians,"  who  had  fallen  one  by 
one  before  the  all-conquering  might  of  Rome,  became 
the  very  people  who  fell  heirs  to  the  legacy  of  Divine 
truth,  and  the  great  blessings  which  accompany  its  pos- 
session. For,  though  the  Reformation  seemed  for  a  time  to 
gain  a  footing  among  the  Latin  races  also,  it  was  only  for 
a  time;  the  hold  of  corruption  was  too  firm  for  it  to  last, 


The  Dying  Song  of  Moses.  335 

and  they  all  relapsed  into  the  darkness  from  which  at 
first  they  had  seemed  ready  to  emerge  ;  while  among  the 
Germanic  races  the  light  of  truth  continued  to  shine  and 
to  diffuse  itself  over  a  widening  area. 

And  now  it  is  the  Teutonic  races  who  are  in  the  posi- 
tion of  Israel  of  old,  and  principally  those  who  speak 
the  English  language.  Who  can  tell  what  we  who  speak 
the  English  tongue  owe  to  Jehovah,  ''  the  Rock  of  our 
salvation  "  ?  Where  did  He  "  find  "  us  ?  Was  it  not 
"  in  a  desert  land  "  indeed — a  very  "  howling  wilderness  "  ? 
See  what  the  early  Britons  were  when  first  they  heard 
Jehovah's  name.  And  how  has  the  Lord  "  led  "  them 
since  then?  How  tenderly  did  He  ''bear"  our  fathers 
on,  teaching  them  by  degrees  the  use  of  that  liberty 
which  has  grown  with  Britain's  growth,  and  strengthened 
with  her  strength,  in — 

"  That  land  of  settled  government, 
A  land  of  just  and  old  renown, 
Where  freedom  slowly  broadens  down 
From  precedent  to  precedent." 

What  words  could  more  truthfully  or  beautifully  ex- 
press God's  dealings  with  us  in  this  respect  than  these  : 
"As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her 
young,  spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth 
them  on  her  wings ;  so  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  them  " 
(ver.  II,  12)?  And  how  has  He  now  "  made  us  to  ride 
upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,"  and  given  us  ''  the 
increase  of  the  fields  "  ?  For  is  it  not  a  patent  fact  that 
the  destinies  of  the  world  are  at  this  moment,  under 
God,  swayed   by  those  who  speak  our  mother  tongue. 


33^  The  Mosaic  Era. 

while  the  great  mass  of  the  world's  wealth  is  in  their 
hands?  And  all  this  v/e  owe  to  Him  who  is  "  Head  over 
all  things."  Not  only  our  rich  spiritual  privileges,  but 
even  our  temporal  greatness,  our  position  and  power  and 
wealth,  in  the  world,  we  owe  to  Jehovah,  God  of  Israel, 
"  the  Rock  of  our  salvation." 

Well,  hovv^  do  we  "  requite  the  Lord  "  ?  Is  it  not  very 
much  in  the  old  way?  Is  not  wealth  breeding  self-indul- 
gence and  luxury  ;  and  are  not  these  leading  us,  as  a 
people,  to  forget  God,  and  "  lightly  to  esteem  the  Rock 
of  our  salvation  "  ?  Are  there  not  many  ''strange  gods  " 
among  us  :  Mammon,  Fashion,  Pleasure  ?  And  what  of 
this  sad  revival  of  middle-age  superstition  ?  Has  not 
the  sin  of  Rome  been  written  with  a  pen  of  iron,  and 
with  the  point  of  a  diamond?  And  why  this  haste  to 
be  partakers  again  of  her  sin,  and  of  her  plagues  ?  ''  For 
their  vine  is  of  the  vine  of  Sodom,  and  of  the  fields  of 
Gomorrah ;  their  grapes  are  grapes  of  gall,  their  clusters 
are  bitter ;  their  wine  is  the  poison  of  dragons,  and  the 
cruel  venom  of  asps  "  (ver,  32). 

Oh!  is  not  this  song  a  witness  against  us  too?  It 
may  seem  strange  that  during  all  these  fifteen  hundred 
years  throughout  which  it  was  witnessing  against  them, 
the  Hebrews  paid  so  little  attention  to  this  song ;  but  is 
it  not  equally  strange  that  we  should  give  so  little  heed 
to  it  ?  God  is  long-suffering  indeed  ;  and  it  is  well  that 
He  is,  or  where  should  we  English-speaking  people  be 
to-day?  But  His  long-suffering  has  a  limit,  as  is  evident 
from  the  past.  ''  Let  us  therefore  fear,"  and  let  us 
''watch  unto  prayer,"   on  behalf  of  ourselves  and   our 


The  Dying  Song  of  Moses.  337 

brethren  throughout  the  world,  that  God  may  pour  out 
His  Spirit  upon  us,  and  give  us  grace  to  be  faithful  to 
''  the  Rock  of  our  salvation,"  so  that  it  may  never  be 
necessary  to  "remove  our  candlestick  out  of  its  place," 
to  "  take  the  kingdom  from  us,  and  give  it  to  a  nation 
bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof  " 

15 


XXIV. 
LAST    WORDS:    THE    END. 

DEUTERONOMY  XXXIII.,  XXXIV. 

^r'^HESE  chapters  form  an  appendix  to  the  Penta- 
A  teuch.  It  is  evident  that  Moses  could  not  have 
recorded  his  own  death  and  the  mourning  which  fol- 
lowed it ;  so  that  the  last  chapter  must  be  by  a  later 
hand,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  one  before  it  w^as 
also  added  after  the  death  of  Moses.  The  last  thing 
which  Moses  himself  records  is  God's  command :  "  Get 
thee  up  into  this  mountain  ....  and  behold  the  land 
....  and  die  "  (xxxii.  49,  50). 

The  thirty-third  chapter  preserves  "  the  blessing  where- 
Avith  Moses  the  man  of  God  blessed  the  children  of 
Israel  before  his  death."  Like  the  dying  song,  it  is  rich 
in  poetry  and  full  of  majesty.  But  we  cannot  stay  to 
point  out  its  beauties.  We  cannot  even  take  up  the 
blessings  of  the  separate  tribes,  but  shall  only  call  atten- 
tion to  the  last  words,  w^iich  speak  of  Israel  as  a  whole, 
and  tell  in  loftiest  language  "  the  blessedness  of  the 
people  whose  God  is  the  Lord." 

These  words  may  be  regarded  as  the   crown    of  the 
Mosaic  theology.     The  theology  of   the  Pentateuch  is 
marvellously  comprehensive  and  complete.     We  are  so 
(338) 


Last  Words.  339 

accustomed  to  look  upon  the  five  books  of  Moses  as  but 
a  small  part  of  the  Bible,  that  we  often  fail  to  realize 
how  complete  a  revelation  it  is  in  itself.  We  forget 
sometimes  that  there  are  very  many  now  in  heaven, 
whose  whole  Bible  it  was,  who  learned  from  it  everything 
they  knew  concerning  God,  from  the  first  rudiments  of 
Divine  knowledge  up  to  full  maturity  like  that  of  Moses 
himself,  when,  full  of  years  and  of  honour,  he  closed  the 
last  volume  of  the  Book  of  the  Law.  When  we  read  in 
the  Psalms  those  glowing  eulogiums  on  the  Law  of  the 
Lord,  we  are  so  accustomed  to  apply  them  (as  it  is  right 
and  proper  that  we  should)  to  the  whole  Bible  as  we 
have  it,  that  we  forget  they  were  spoken  first,  in  honour 
specially  and  almost  exclusively  of  this  Pentateuch, 
which  many  Christians  nowadays  undervalue  so  much, 
and  which  some  calling  themselves  Christians  presume 
to  reject  as  unworthy  the  credence  of  enlightened  men 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

We  may  not  attempt  in  these  concluding  words  to 
discuss  the  wide  subject  of  the  Mosaic  theology.  If  wc 
did,  we  should  have  to  speak  of  the  Unity  of  God,  His 
Personality,  the  indications  of  a  Trinity  scattered  here 
and  there  in  greater  numbers  than  a  superficial  reader  is 
aware  of,  but  which  in  no  case  interfere  at  all  with  the 
consistent  testimony  throughout  to  the  indivisible  Divine 
Unity ;  and,  in  a  word,  of  the  doctrine  of  God  as  "  a 
Spirit,  infinite,  eternal,  and  unchangeable,  in  His  being, 
wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth." 
All  of  these  doctrines,  and  many  more  of  subordinate 
importance,  we  should  find  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures 
which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  Mosaic  era. 


340  The  Mosaic  Era. 

We  may,  however,  call  special  attention  to  the  full 
revelation  of  the  Divine  Love  throughout  the  Pentateuch. 
We  have  had  occasion  already  to  combat  a  prevalent 
idea  that  God  is  revealed  by  Moses  as  a  God  of  justice, 
while  by  Jesus  He  is  made  known  as  a  God  of  mercy ; 
that  wrath  prevails  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  love  in 
the  New.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  misunderstanding 
of  ''the  memorial  name,"  Jehovah,  which  in  the  popular 
mind  has  become  associated  with  thoughts  of  terror, 
whereas  in  the  Pentateuch  it  is  almost  the  synonym 
of  Love.  To  the  intelligent  and  instructed  reader  of 
the  Old  Testament,  the  blessed  truth  concerning  the 
God  of  Israel,  that  His  nature  and  His  name  is  Love, 
appears  on  almost  every  page.  We  are  apt  to  forget 
that  the  judgments  of  the  Old  Testament  came  only 
upon  those  who  hardened  their  hearts  in  unbelief ;  and 
that  they  come  as  certainly  and  as  severely  on  unbe- 
lievers now,  as  they  did  in  the  times  of  Moses.  As 
severely,  do  we  say  ?  What  do  these  words  mean  : 
"  He  that  transgressed  Moses'  law  died  without  mercy 
under  two  or  three  witnesses  :  of  /lozu  vmcJi  sorer  piinisJi- 
incnt,  suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath 
trodden  underfoot  the  Son  of  God  ?  "  The  only  differ- 
ence between  the  judgments  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
those  of  the  New  is,  that  the  latter  are  more  terribly 
severe  in  proportion  as  the  privileges  are  greater.  And 
whether  in  the  old  or  in  the  new,  the  denmiciation  of 
judgment  is  an  expression  of  love;  for  it  is  the  warning 
voice  of  affection,  telling  of  the  coming  danger,  and  be- 
seeching those  exposed  to  it  to  ''  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come." 


Last  Words.  341 

From  the  beginning  of  this  song  before  us  we  see  how 
thoroughly  "  Moses  the  man  of  God  "  understood  all  this. 
There  is  first  a  grand  description  of  God's  descent  upon 
Mount  Sinai,  ending  with  these  words  :  "  From  His  right 
hand  went  a  fiery  law  for  them."  Now  notice  the  words 
which  follow :  ''  Yea,  He  loved  the  people."  Many  seem 
to  think  that  the  revelation  on  Mount  Sinai  was  intended 
above  all  things  to  strike  terror  into  the  people.  Moses 
evidently  does  not  think  so.  He  takes  it  as  it  really 
was,  a  manifestation  of  love.  It  is  an  eternal  truth  that 
*'  God  is  love  "  ;  and  this  eternal  truth  was  manifest,  less 
marvellously  indeed,  but  as  certainly,  on  Sinai  as  on 
Calvary.  When  we  think  of  all  this,  we  have  no  reason 
to  wonder  that  Moses  should  crown  his  theological  ut- 
terances with  words  like  these  :  ''  There  is  none  like  unto 
the  God  of  Jeshurun,  who  rideth  upon  the  heaven  in 
thy  Help,  and  in  His  excellency  on  the  sky.  The  eter- 
nal God  is  thy  refuge,  and  underneath  are  the  everlasting 
arms." 

The  glories  of  Sinai  are  still  in  the  old  man's  mind 
when  he  speaks  of  God's  "riding  upon  the  heaven,  and 
in  His  excellency  on  the  sky."  But  observe  in  what 
character  the  majesty  of  God  presents  itself  to  him.  It 
is  not  as  a  dreadful  thing.  Not  at  all :  "  who  rideth  upon 
the  heaven  in  tJiy  JielpT  Moses  is  a  true  believer.  He 
knows  that  even  that  fiery  grandeur  of  Sinai  was  in  His 
people's  help,  and  the  same  thought  rises  in  his  soul  as 
sprung  up  afterwards  before  the  rapt  spirit  of  the  great 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  '^  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be 
against  us  ?  "  Sinai  has  no  terrors  for  the  aged  believer, 
whose  feet  are  firmly  planted  on  "  the  Rock  of  Ages," 


342  The  Mosaic  Era. 

and  who  therefore  can  go  singing  to  the  mountain  top 
to  die. 

But  is  not  Calvary  here,  as  well  as  Sinai  ?  Or,  at 
least,  is  not  He  who  died  on  Calvary  before  the  seer's 
eye  ?  When  Abraham  stood  on  Mount  Moriah  beside 
the  altar  on  which  he  had  shown  his  readiness  to  sacri- 
fice his  all  for  God,  his  eyes  were  opened,  so  that  he  saw 
the  day  of  Christ  afar  off,  and  was  glad  (John  viii.  56). 
And  surely  Moses  is  no  less  highly  favoured  now  that 
he  is  about  to  go  up  to  Mount  Nebo,  to  make  his  great 
sacrifice,  to  yield  his  life  at  God's  command  without 
reaching  the  goal  of  his  life-long  anticipation.  There  is 
no  doubt  that,  however  dimly,  he  too  beheld  from  afar 
the  day  of  Christ,  and  rejoiced  to  see  it.  He  had  been 
by  the  events  of  his  time  familiarized  with  the  thought 
of  the  God  of  Jeshurun  riding  upon  the  heavens  in  His 
people's  help ;  but  where  did  he  get  the  idea  of  that  in- 
timate nearness,  that  closeness  of  contact,  which  comes 
out  in  the  words  that  follow :  "  The  eternal  God  is  thy 
refuge,  and  underneath  are  the  everlastmg arms  "  ?  Even 
the  Tabernacle  revelation  had  nothing  in  it  to  suggest  a 
thought  so  tender,  except  in  so  far  as  it  foreshadowed 
the  incarnation  and  life  on  earth  of  the  coming  Saviour. 
To  ride  upon  the  heavens  in  their  help  was  a  glorious 
thing  ;  but  to  walk  upon  the  earth,  to  take  little  children 
in  His  arms,  to  stretch  out  these  arms  to  all  and  say, 
"  Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest  " — this  was  something  far  better. 
And  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  aged  man  of  God  felt  it 
so,  as  he  girded  himself  for  his  strange  lone  journey  to 
the  mountain  top.     Though  ''his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor 


Last  Words.  343 

his  natural  force  abated  "  (xxxiv.  7),  we  may  well  imagine 
that  it  would  have  been  with  feeble,  trembling  steps  he 
would  have  ascended  the  mount  that  day  had  he  not 
known  that  the  eternal  God  was  his  refuge,  and  felt  that 
around  him  and  underneath  were  the  everlasting  arms. 
It  is  this  conviction  that  enables  him  to  leave  a  requiem 
behind  him,  which  shall  echo  through  the  ages,  not  in 
wailing  for  the  dead,  but  in  shouts  of  glad  praise  to  the 
God  of  the  living,  the  Rock  of  Jeshurun. 

But  it  is  scarcely  doing  justice  to  the  majesty  of 
Moses'  death,  to  represent  him  as  thinking  of  himself  at 
all.  It  is  true  that  he  could  not  have  manifested  this 
noble  calmness  and  fortitude  unless  he  had  known  God 
as  his  own  refuge,  and  felt  that  the  everlasting  arms  were 
underneath  him.  But  this  is  so  absolutely  certain,  so  un- 
questionable, so  thoroughly  taken  for  granted,  that  his 
thoughts  do  not  seem  even  to  advert  to  it.  He  has  been 
so  long  accustomed  to  leave  himself  out  of  view,  that 
he  can  well  afford  to  do  it  once  more  in  the  supreme 
crises  of  his  history.  Two  great  thoughts  quite  fill  his 
lofty  soul  in  its  last  moments.  The  first  of  them  is  this  : 
"  There  is  none  like  unto  the  God  of  Israel "  (xxxiii. 
26) ;  and  the  second  is  like  unto  it :  ''  There  is  none  like 
unto  the  Israel  of  God  "  (ver.  29). 

Israel's  God  and  God's  Israel ;  the  Saviour  and  the 
saved :  are  not  these  the  two  great  factors  of  the  Mosaic 
era?  We  have  seen^  that  the  great  doings  of  God 
"  when  Israel  was  a  child  "  make  the  grandest  picture 
which  the  Old  Testament  affords  us  of  the  great  salva- 


*  See  page  17. 


344  The  Mosaic  Era. 

tion.  How  appropriate,  then,  that  we  should  find  at  the 
close  of  these  records  of  the  times  of  Israel's  childhood 
so  lovely  a  miniature,  setting  forth  so  beautifully  the 
glory  of  Israel's  redeeming  God  and  the  blessedness  of 
His  redeemed  people. 

How  beautifully  the  echoes  of  the  three  books  are 
heard  in  the  closing  strain  of  the  fourth.  Looking  first 
at  what  is  said  of  Israel's  God,  listen  to  Exodus  :  "  There 
is  none  like  unto  the  God  of  Jeshurun,  who  rideth  upon 
the  heaven  in  thy  help,  and  in  His  excellency  on  the 
sky  ";  immediately  following  which,  we  hear  an  echo  of 
Leviticus,  so  softened  and  etherealized  as  it  were,  that 
we  seem  already  to  be  in  the  New  Testament,  as  the 
tender  tones  fall  on  our  ears :  "  The  eternal  God  is  thy 
refuge,  and  underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms  "  ;  and 
the  strain  appropriately  ends  with  the  warlike  notes  of 
Numbers  :  "He  shall  thrust  out  the  enemy  from  before 
thee  ;  and  shall  say,  Destroy  them." 

So,  too,  in  speaking  of  the  Israel  of  God,  the  strain 
begins  with  the  thought  which  lay  at  the  foundation-  of 
the  Mosaic  economy,  that  of  separation  :  "  Israel  then 
shall  dwell  in  safety  a/o7ie " ;  and  after  touching  on  the 
same  lofty  conceptions  as  in  the  former  stanza,  with  such 
variations  in  the  language  as  the  change  of  subject  from 
the  God  of  Israel  to  the  Israel  of  God  rendered  neces- 
sary, he  closes  again  with  the  thought  of  the  hosts  of  the 
Lord  advancing  to  conquer  the  *'  high  places  "  of  their 
enemies,  through  Him  who  was  not  only  "  the  shield  of 
their  help,"  but  "  the  sword  of  their  excellency  " ! 


*  See  page  2. 


Last  Words.  345 

The  actual  outcome  of  the  Mosaic  era  fell  far  below 
the  Divine  ideal;  but  it  is  encouraging  to  remember 
that  the  people's  failure  to  realize  the  glory  and  the 
blessedness  the  Lord  had  prepared  for  them  was  simply 
their  loss.  To  all  succeeding  ages  those  blessed  truths 
remain  "  as  an  heritage  for  ever,"  from  the  Mosaic  era  : 
First,  "  There  is  none  like  unto  the  God  of  Jeshurun, 
who  rideth  upon  the  heaven  in  thy  help,  and  in  His  ex- 
cellency on  the  sky.  The  eternal  God  is  thy  refuge,  and 
underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms  ; "  and  next,  "  Happy 
art  thou,  O  Israel :  who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  people  saved 
by  the  Lord,  the  shield  of  thy  help,  and  who  is  the  sword 
of  thy  excellency  !  " 

"  For  all  flesh  is  as  grass,  and  all  the  glory  of  ma7i  as 
the  flower  of  grass.  The  grass  withereth,  and  the  flower 
thereof  falleth  away:  but  THE  WORD  OF  THE  LORD 
ENDURETH  FOR  EVER.  A7iei  this  is  the  zuord  zvhich  by 
the  Gospel  is  preached  unto  your 


IS* 


APPENDIX. 


ON  ''JEHOVAH,"  "ISRAEL,"  AND  ''CHRIST." 

S^Note  —  The  author  finds  that  in  order  to  do  justice  to  the  impor- 
tant subjects  reserved  for  the  Appendix,  an  additional  volume  would 
be  necessary  ;  and  therefore,  instead  of  attempting  the  formal  treat- 
ment of  them,  he  offers  some  of  the  most  important  data,  with  a 
mere  statement  of  such  conclusions  as  have  the  closest  relation  to 
the  questions  in  the  text  which  suggested  the  investigations.] 

(347) 


/ 


I.  THE  NAME  "JEHOVAH." 

N.  B. — Wherever  "  Lord  "  in  our  Bible  is  in  capitals, 
it  is  Jehovah  in  the  original. 

1.  "  Jehovah  "  and  '*  God''  are  different  names  for  the 
same  being. — (See  Genesis  anywhere  and  the  Old  Testa- 
ment generally.) 

2.  While  "  God''  is  the  general  name,  expressive  of  the 
relation  of  Deity  to  all  His  creatures  (Gen.  i.  i),  ''Jehovah  " 
is  the  name  expressive  of  some  special  relation,  as  in  the 
formula,  "  I  am  Jehovah,  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob."  It  is  in  fact  the  Covenant  Name.  Numberless 
passages  might  be  cited,  but  it  may  be  sufficient  to  refer 
to  I  Kings  xviii.  21,  and  36-39. 

3.  The  specific  idea  associated  with  the  name  is  not  that 
of  self-existence  and  absolute  Being,  but  love  and  mercy  in 
general  and  salvation  in  particular,  holiness  being  always 
present  as  a  solemn  undertone  : — Exod.  vi.  6-8  ;  xx.  2  ; 
xxix.  46;  xxxiv.  5-7;  Lev.  xxvi.  I,  2  {cf.  Exod.  xx.  2); 
Lev.  xxvi.  13,  44;  Num.  vi.  24-27;  Deut.  v.  6;  xxxiii. 
29 ;  2  Sam.  xxii. ;  Psalms  almost  anywhere,  e.  g.  Ps. 
xxvii. ;  Prov.  xviii.  10 ;  the  prophets  almost  anywhere, 
^.  ^.,  Isa.  xliii.  11;  Jer.  xxiii.  6-8.  In  some  cases  the 
name  is  reduplicated,  to  give  additional  force  to  the 
thought,  as  in  Isa.  xii.  2  and  xxvi.  4.     (See  margin). 

4.  '' Jehovah"  and  the  '' Angel  of  Jehovah"  designate 
the  same  person  : — Gen.  xvi.  7-13  ;  xviii.  i,  2,  22  ;  xix.  i ; 

(349) 


350  The  Mosaic  Era. 

xxviii.  13  ;  xxxi.  1 1,  13  ;  xxxii.  24,  30  {cf.  Hosea  xii.  4, 
5);  Gen.  xlviii.  15,  16;  Exod.  iii.  2,  4,  6,  (cf.  Acts  vii. 
30-35);  Exod.  xiii.  21  ;  xiv.  19;  xxiii.  20,  21  ;  xxxiii.  14, 
15  {cf.  Isa.  Ixiii.  8,  9),  and  so  on  through  the  Bible,  e.g. 
Zech.  iii. 

5.  ''Jehovah''  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  ''Jesus''  of 
the  New  Testament,  is  the  same  person : — 

{a)  A  just  inference  from  4  {cf.  John  i.  18). 

{b)  The  promise  and  expectation  of  Jehovah's  coming 
(satisfied  in  the  advent  of  Christ):  Gen.  xHx.  18;  Ps. 
xcviii. ;  Isa.  xl.  i-ii;  xlv.  21-25  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  6;  Mai. 
iii.  I. 

{c)  Numerous  quotations  in  the  New  Testament,  in 
which  Jesus  is  taken  as  the  person  spoken  of  in  the  Old 
Testament  as  Jehovah,  e.  g.  Heb.  i.  10. 

{d)  The  title  "  Lord "  applied  to  Christ  throughout 
the  New  Testament  is  the  very  word  by  which  Jehovah 
is  rendered  in  the  Greek  of  the  Septuagint  {cf.  the 
force  of  this  in  such  passages  as  Acts  xvi.  31  ;  Rev,  xxii. 
20,  21). 

{e)  Express  identification  in  New  Testament :  Mark  i. 
1,2;  Matt.  xi.  3-6  {cf.  Rev.  i.  8  and  xxii.  20) ;  John  xii. 
41  {cf.  Isa.  vi.) ;  i  Cor.  x.  9  {cf.  Deut.  vi.  16) ;  Heb.  xi. 
26;  xii.  25,  26;   I  Pet.  i.  II  {cf.,e.g.,  Isa.  Ixi.) 

Conclusions  from  the  Foregoing  Argument. 

I.  The  way  is  prepared  for  a  consistent  theory  of  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  the  name  "  Jehovah,"  in  accord- 
ance with  that  passage  in  Revelation  which  seems  to  be 
an  expansion  of  it,  where  the  Saviour  speaks  of  Himself 


Appendix.  351 

as  ''  the  Lord,  which  is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is  to 
come  "  ^'  (i.  8).    (See  also  Matt.  xi.  3  and  John  viii.  58). 

II.  The  entire  Old  Testament  is  lighted  up  and 
warmed  by  a  Name,  multiplied  on  almost  every  page, 
which  has  the  same  sweetness  ^Mn  a  believer's  ear"  as 
the  much  loved  name  of  Jesus.  How  differently,  for 
example,  do  the  Psalms  read  !  And  then  it  is  no  cold, 
abstract  idea,  but  the  blessed  fact  that  "  God  is  Love," 
which  is  "  My  Name  for  ever  and  my  memorial  to  all 
generations."     (See  Exod.  iii.  15). 

III.  It  makes  conspicuously  manifest  the  Divinity  of 
Christ. 

IV.  It  is  the  key  to  many  perplexities  in  the  Old 
Testament  {e.  g.,  Exod.  vi.  3),  and  by  showing  a  wonder- 


*  The  tenses  used  in  Exodus  iii.  14  are  what  the  old  grammarians 
call  the  future,  which  would  give  the  translation  :  "  I  will  be  what  I 
will  be  "  ;  instead  of  "  I  am  that  I  am,"  which  is  probably  due  to 
the  Septuagint,  and  the  Alexandrian  philosophy  which  ruled  the 
rendering  of  that  important  passage.  Several  of  the  modern  ver- 
sions have  the  future,  Luther's,  e.g.,  "  Ich  werde  sein,  der  ich  sein 
werde  "  ;  the  Spanish  of  Valera,  "  Sere  el  que  Sere  "  ;  the  Swedish, 
"  Jag  skall  wara,  den  jag  wara  skall  "  ;  etc.  And  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  thought  of  the  future  is  quite  prominent  in  the 
Hebrew  words,  of  which  the  emphatic  present,  "  I  am  that  I  am,"  is 
so  misleading  a  translation.  Still,  recent  grammatical  researches 
have  so  modified  the  views  of  earlier  grammarians  in  regard  to  the 
Hebrew  tenses  as  to  forbid  the  absolute  restriction,  either  to  the 
future  on  the  one  hand,  or  to  the  present  on  the  other,  and  to  favour 
that  indeterminateness  in  regard  to  time,  which  finds  its  best  ex- 
pression in  the  passage  quoted  above  from  the  Apocalypse :  "  The 
Lord  which  is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come."  The  re- 
cent work  of  Driver  on  "  The  Use  of  The  Tenses  in  Hebrew  " 
affords  ample  materials  to  substantiate  this  view  of  Exodus  iii.  14, 
though  it  seems  to  contain  no  reference  to  this  particular  passage. 


352  The  Mosaic  Era. 

fill  harmony  far  below  the  surface,  confirms  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Scriptures. 

V.  It  binds  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  one  har- 
monious whole  as  the  Revelation  of  God  in  Christ.  (See 
John  i.  i8  ;  v.  39,  etc.) 

VI.  By  carrying  the  Old  Testament  name  into  the 
New  as  a  title  of  the  Saviour,  it  gives  continued  expres- 
sion to  the  fact  that  He  in  whom  we  trust,  is  still  a 
coming  Saviour.     (See  especially  Rev.  i,  8  and  xxii.  20, 

21.) 


II.  THE   NAME  "ISRAEL." 

1.  The  leading  thought  in  the  name  is  "power  with 
God  and  with  men  "  (Gen.  xxxii.  28) :  the  former,"  power 
with  God,"  being  the  idea  "of  the  priesthood  ;  the  latter, 
"  power  with  men,"  of  the  kingship,  or  perhaps  more  ac- 
curately, the  kinghood,  of  the  Bible. 

2.  The  leading  application  of  the  name  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  to  the  chosen  people  as  a  whole,  who  were 
called  to  be  "  a  kinghood  *  of  priests  "  (Exod.  xix.  6). 

The  restricted  use  of  it  in  the  later  times  of  the  mon- 
archy, as  applied  to  the  ten  tribes  in  distinction  from 
the  southern  minority,  though  it  prevailed  for  several 
hundred  years,  and  needs  to  be  kept  in  mind  in  order  to 
an  intelligent  reading  of  the  later  prophets,  was  only 
temporary,  and  finds  its  explanation  in  this,  that  while 
the  division  lasted,  the  majority  claimed  to  be  tJie  peo- 
ple of  God,  the  true  "  Israel." 

3.  The  application  of  the  personal  name  "  Israel "  to 


*  It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  word  "  kingdom  "  used  in 
our  version  does  not  mean  in  this  passage  a  community  ruled  over 
by  a  king,  but  a  kingly  community.  The  apostle  Peter,  following 
the  LXX.,  renders  it  "a  royal  priesthood"  (i  Pet.  ii.  9).  The  roy- 
alty of  kinghood  referred  to  is  of  course  no  mere  political  notion, 
but  the  Bible  idea  of  moral  power  over  men's  minds  and  hearts, 
such  as  is  gained  through  the  truth.  (See  John  xviii.  37  and  Rev.  i. 
6 ;  XX.  6.) 

(353) 


354  The  Mosaic  Era. 

the  nation,  as  a  whole,  leads  us  to  view  the  national  his- 
tory, as  if  it  were  that  of  an  individual,  from  the  child- 
hood of  the  nation,  when  God  called  His  Son  out  of 
Egypt  (Hos.  xi.  i),  on  through  the  period  of  its  adoles- 
cence^ in  the  times  of  Joshua  and  the  Judges,  when  it 
had  to  battle  with  those  outward  obstacles  which  lie  in 
the  way  of  a  youth  who  has  his  position  in  the  world  to 
make,  up  to  the  prime  of  life,  which  was  reached  in  the 
days  of  the  early  kings,  especially  the  reign  of  Solomon, 
when  the  nation  touched  its  highest  pinnacle  of  great- 
ness ;  then  downward  through  the  slow  steps  of  decay, 
traceable  not  to  assaults  from  without,  but  to  growing 
weakness  within,  until  at  last,  after  occasional  vain  ef- 
forts to  renew  the  vigour  of  its  youth,  as  in  the  times  of 
the  Maccabees,  it  sinks  into  the  grave  to  which  it  long 
has  been  steadily  advancing. 

4.  Israel  is  raised  again  from  the  dead  under  a  new 
covenant  (Heb.  viii.  7-13).  "  It  is  sown  a  natural  body  " 
— "  Israel  according  to  the  flesh  "  ;  ''  It  is  raised  a  spir- 
itual body  " — the  Church,  ''the  Israel  of  God  "  (Gal.  vi. 
16),  spoken  of  in  the  Epistle  of  Peter  as  *'  a  royal  priest- 
hood, an  holy  nation  "  (i  Pet.  ii.  9),  and  in  the  book  of 
Revelation  claiming  to  have  been  made  "kings  and 
priests  unto  God "  (Rev.  i.  6).  The  ideal  of  Israel  in 
the  book  of  Genesis  is  at  last  realized  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse. 


III.   THE   TITLE   "CHRIST." 

1.  The  Messiah,  the  Christ,  the  Anointed,  are  Hebrew, 
Greek,  and  EngHsh  equivalents.  The  associations  of 
anointing  were  with  health  and  beauty,  grace  and  glad- 
ness. These  being  "  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,"  the  anoint- 
ing oil  was  the  familiar  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit's 
grace. 

2.  The  term  is  applied  in  a  general  way  to  the  patri- 
archs, and  to  Israel  as  a  nation,  in  a  few  passages  :  i 
Chron.  xvi.  22  ;  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  9;  Ps.  cv.  15  ;   Hab.  iii.  13. 

3.  In  a  more  special  sense  it  is  applied  to  individuals, 
especially  priests  and  kings.^  The  priests  were  anointed 
as  channels  of  "  saving  health "  ;  the  kings  as  channels 
of  "  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
(See  Rom.  xiv.  17). 

4.  Both  the  nation  as  a  whole,  which  was  called  to  be 
"  a  kinghood  of  priests,"  and  the  individual  priests  and 
kings  of  the  lines  of  Aaron  and  David,  fell  lamentably 
short  of  the  Divine  idea  in  the  anointing.  Hence  the 
Anointed  One,  the  Messiah,  tJie  Christ,  yet  to  come,  re- 
mained "  the  Hope  of  Israel." 

5.  When  tJie  Christ  came,  He  fulfilled  the  Divine  ideal 


*  There  is  only  one  passage  where  anointing  is  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  the  prophetical  office  (i  Kings  xix.  16),  whereas  there 
are  hundreds  which  connect  it  with  the  priestly  and  kingly  offices. 

(355)^ 


356  *       The  Mosaic  Era. 

of  the  anointed  or  Christ  kings  of  the  Hne  of  David,  the 
anointed  or  Christ  priests  of  the  line  of  Aaron,  and  the 
anointed  or  Christ  nation  of  Israel. 

6.  In  fulfilling  the  Divine  idea  of  the  anointed  nation, 
He  became  the  Priest  of  the  world,  and  the  King  of 
men.  In  HiM  all  nations  of  the  earth  were  blessed, 
with  health  and  beauty,  grace  and  gladness. 

7.  Not  only  did  He  thus  personally  fulfil  the  destiny 
of  Israel  as  a  race,  but  He  became  the  Head  of  a  new 
spiritual  family,  who  should  through  His  grace  collective- 
ly fulfil  the  destiny  of  Israel. 

8.  Accordingly  we  find  that  in  the  New  Testament 
the  term  ''  Christ "  is  applied  not  only  in  a  personal 
sense  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  the  Antitype  of  the 
Christ  persons  of  the  Old  Testament ;  but  in  a  collective 
sense  to  the  Church,  as  the  antitype  of  the  Christ  nation 
of  the  Old  Testament.  As  in  the  Old  (see  par.  2  above), 
so  in  the  New,  the  cases  are  rare ;  but  they  are  impor- 
tant. By  keeping  this  in  mind,  we  readily  see  the  mean- 
ing of  passages  which,  for  want  of  understanding  the 
usage,  have  presented  almost  insurmountable  difficulty, 
<r.^..  Col.  i.  24;    Gal.  iii.   16^;    Heb.  xi.  26.     (The  last 

*  This  passage  has  been  appealed  to  most  confidently  as  an  illus- 
tration of  inconsequential  reasoning,  quite  incompatible  with  the 
idea  of  inspiration.  The  apostle  is  supposed  to  be  arguing  from  the 
use  of  the  singular  "  seed  "  in  the  words  of  the  promise,  that  the 
reference  must  be  to  a  single  person,  viz.,  Christ,  overlooking  or 
disregarding  the  fact  that  "  seed,"  though  singular  in  form,  is  col- 
lective in  meaning.  But  it  requires  only  a  knowledge  of  the  collect- 
ive meaning  of  the  word  "  Christ,"  to  see  that  the  blunder  is  en- 
tirely on  the  side  of  the  critics.  The  apostle  does  not  say  "  to  thy 
seed,  which  is  Jesus,"  but  "  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ,''  referring 


Appendix.  357 

passage  is  specially  remarkable,  as  a  striking  parallel  to 
those  quoted  in  par.  2). 

9.  It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  observe  the 
careful  discrimination  in  the  New  Testament  between 
the  name  Jesus  and  the  title  Christ  in  the  frequent  re- 
ferences to  His  body.  The  "  body  of  Jesus  "  is  invari- 
ably used  in  the  literal  sense,  meaning  the  human  body 
of  our  Lord  (Matt,  xxvii.  58  ;  Mark  xv.  43  ;  Luke  xxiii. 
52;  xxiv.  3;  John  xix.  38,  40;  xx.  12;  Heb.  x.  10). 
The  '^  body  of  Christ,"  on  the  other  hand,  is  used  in  re- 
ference to  ^'  the  Church,  which  is  His  body,"  in  numer- 
ous and  quite  familiar  passages. 

10.  "The  body  of  Christ,"  bearing  the  collective  as 
distinguished  from  the  individual  signification,  is  parallel 
with  the  collective  name  "Israel";  and  just  as  there 
was  an  "  Israel  according  to  the  flesh,"  and  a  spiritual 
Israel,  so  concerning  the  body  of  Christ  we  may  say  in 
the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  There  is  a  natural  body,  and 
there  is  a  spiritual  body."  The  spiritual  body  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  Church  of  the  New  Testament.  The  nat- 
ural body  may  be  regarded  as  the  Church  of  the  Old 
Testament  (see  Acts  vii.  38).  Herein  we  see  the  ap- 
propriateness of  the  application  of  the  title  "  Christ  "  to 
God's  ancient  people,  and  the  naturalness  of  that  refer- 
to  the  whole  body,  as  appears  very  clearly  from  what  follows  :  "  For 
as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ. 
There  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there 
is  neither  male  or  female :  for  ye  are  all  ONE  in  Christ  Jesus." 
There  is  the  unity  the  apostle  is  speaking  of.  It  is  the  one  seed  in- 
cluding all:  Greek  and  Jew,  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  and  free. 
Understood  in  this  its  manifest  sense,  the  inference  is  quite  legiti- 
mate, as  based  on  the  use  of  a  singular  collective  term. 


358  The  Mosaic  Era. 

ence  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  Moses  is  re- 
presented as  "esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater 
riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt." 

1 1.  The  foregoing  data  confirm  greatly  the  view  briefly 
suggested  in  the  opening  lecture^  as  to  the  typical  rela- 
tion of  Israel  as  a  people  to  the  Holy  One  about  to  come 
in  "  the  fulness  of  the  times"  to  fulfil  Israel's  destiny. 
Professor  Jowett,  in  his  "  Essay  on  the  Interpretation  of 
Scripture,"  says :  "  The  time  will  come  when  educated 
men  will  be  no  more  able  to  believe  that  the  words,  '  Out 
of  Egypt  have  I  called  My  son,'  were  intended  by  the 
prophet  to  refer  to  the  return  of  Joseph  and  Mary  out 
of  Egypt,  than,  etc."  He  takes  for  granted  that  unless 
the  prophet  intended  an  application  to  the  coming  Christ, 
it  is  erroneous  to  make  the  application,  as  the  Evangelist 
Matthew  does.  But  it  is  evident  that  the  learned  critic 
is  not  "  educated  "  enough  on  the  subject  on  which  he 
pronounces  so  decisively.  Any  one  can  of  course  see 
that  the  prophet  refers  to  Israel,  for  he  expressly  says 
so :  "  When  Israel  was  a  child,  then  I  loved  him,  and 
called  My  son  out  of  Egypt."  One  does  not  require  to 
belong  to  the  class  of  "  educated  men  "  to  see  so  far  into 
the  subject.  But  it  does  require  a  little  education  to  see 
what  the  Evangelist  evidently  saw,  that  the  relation  of 
Israel  to  the  coming  Christ  was  similar  to  that  of  David 
to  Him  ;  and  therefore,  that  what  was  said  of  the  type 
could  be  legitimately  applied  to  the  antitype. 

From  this  point  of  view,  also,  we  can  see  how  it  comes 
to  pass,  that  Israel  as  a  nation  and  the  coming  Messiah 

*  Page  8. 


Appendix.  359 

are  blended  together  in  those  prophecies  of  Isaiah  which, 
on  this  very  account,  have  been  the  subject  of  so  much 
controversy.  It  has  been  a  great  weakness  in  that  con- 
troversy that  the  positions  of  those  who  refer  them  to 
Israel  as  a  nation,  and  of  those  who  refer  them  to  the 
Messiah,  have  been  so  generally  regarded  as  mutually 
exclusive.  And  accordingly,  when  the  party  opposed  to 
the  Messianic  interpretation  points  to  such  a  passage  as 
Isaiah  xlix.  3  :  "  Thou  art  My  servant,  O  Israel,"  it  is 
dealt  with  as  if  it  disproved  all  Messianic  reference  in 
that  most  remarkable  of  all  prophecies  of  Christ,  begin- 
ning, "  Behold,  My  servant  shall  deal  prudently."  But 
why  should  not  the  same  principle  be  applied  here  which 
we  have  found  of  so  frequent  application  elsewhere  ? 
Israel  was  the  Christ  people.  Why  should  we  then  find 
difficulty,  when  we  discover  that  t/ieir  history,  as  ivcll as 
their  prophecy ,  foreshadowed  the  Ch'ist  that  was  to  eome  ?  * 


*  From  the  same  point  of  view  fresh  hght  is  cast  upon  the  enig- 
matical utterance  of  Caiaphas  (John  xi.  49,  50),  which  shows  that 
there  was  one  at  least,  even  in  those  degenerate  days,  who  dimly  saw 
some  connection  between  the  fate  of  the  nation,  and  that  of  the  "  One 
Man,"  whose  cause  was  then  under  adjudication. 


"©he  ^i}tQc^  before  ^STio^c^. 

TWELVE    LECTURES    ON    THE    BOOK    OF    GENESIS. 

BY 

JOHN    MONRO    GIBSON,    D.D., 

LATE  PASTOR  OF  THE  SECOND  PEESBTTERIAN  CHUROe,  CHICAGO. 

12mo,  Clotli, Price,  $1.25. 


"  '  The  Ages  before  Moses,'  of  whicli  the  Lectures  treat,  are  the  geologic  age, 
the  Eden  times,  the  Aute-diluvian  age,  the  post-diluvian  age  between  Noah  and 
Abraham,  and  the  Patriarchal  Era.  The  relations  between  the  truth  unfolded  in 
these  early  age?  and  the  later  revelations,  especially  those  of  the  New  Testament, 
have  been  kept  in  view  throughout,  so  that  by  the  study  of  Genesis  as  much  light 
as  possible  might  be  thrown  upon  the  rest  of  the  Bible." 

''Dr.  Gibson's  work  is  one  of  great  originality  and  fairness,  commending  itself 
at  once  to  the  reason  and  common-sense  of  well-informed  readers.  It  would  be 
hard  to  find  in  the  same  compass  anything  more  reasonable  as  to  its  matter,  more 
attractive  as  to  its  style,  and  more  satisfactory  as  an  argument."— /n^mor. 

"  We  can  not  in  this  brief  notice  point  out  the  many  merits  of  these  very  ex- 
cellent lectures  ;  but  we  may  say  that  there  appears  on  the  very  surface  a  far-reach- 
ing, a  broad  and  strong  grasp  of  truth  with  the  ability  to  set  it  clearly  before  the 

mmd  of  the  reader The  help  of  scientists  in  their  several  departments, 

where  they  have  rendered  real  help,  is  not  only  acknowledged,  but  freely  used."— 
Canada  Presbyterian. 

"  The  author  has  succeeded  in  '  his  attempt  to  combine  the  advantages  of  the 
expository  and  the  topical  methods,  and  at  the  same  time  to  secure  the  benefits  of 
continuous  exposition,  without  wearying  and  discouraging  those  who  have  not  time 
to  dwell  on  details.'  In  such  a  work  as  this,  from  a  mind  that  is  both  devout  and 
vigorous,  we  see  how  the  New  Testament  lies  hid  in  the  Old,  and  how  the  Old  is 
revealed  in  the  New."— A^e?^  Yoi'k  Observer. 

"  It  is  seldom  that  a  volume  so  small  as  this  is  found  to  contain  so  much  well- 
considered  and  fresh  thought  and  so  many  indices  pointing  to  new  and  fresh 
iuqniry.'''— Chicago  Tribune. 

"The  style  is  clear  and  vivid,  the  thought  vigorous,  the  presentation  of  the 
subiect  necessarily  brief,  but  Ai&lmci:''— Commonwealth. 

"  These  lectures  are  timely,  noteworthy,  and  original.  They  are  all  separately 
interesting,  and  form  as  a  whole  a  very  complete  picture  of  a  period  around  which 
many  Bible'-readers  arc  apt  to  throw  a  vague  mistiness,  which  obscures  the  mind, 

even  when  it  is  intent  upon  seeing  and  seeking  only  the  Trttth There  is 

much  clearing  up  of  what  the  simple  English  reader  of  the  Bible  may  have  con- 
sidered '  difficulties.'  ''—iSo.  Churchman. 

"  The  Book  is  a  beautiful  Bible  study,  whose  power  lies  in  the  simplicity  of  its 
thought,  the  comprehensiveness  of  its  conceptions,  the  Scripturalness  of  its  appeal, 
the  reverence  of  its  tone,  and  the  naturalness  and  warmth  of  its  diction.  It  is  a 
pleasure  to  commend  such  a  volume  to  our  re^^cr &.''''— National  Baptist. 

"  The  book  is  one  of  remarkable  Qs.ceWencQ.''''— Standard. 

"  The  discourses  are  fresh,  and  hold  the  attention  of  the  reader  throughout."— 
Watchman. 

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The  Mosaic  era:  a  senes  of  lectures  on 

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